The Frost Queen
by Kenya Starflight
Summary: To most of the rest of the universe, Ben Tennyson, wielder of the Omnitrix, is a hero. To a young Necrofriggian hatchling, however, he's something far more... he's a mother.
1. The Carnival of Aliens

At a time when aliens not only walked the surface of Earth, but were an accepted fact of life, rickety carnivals like Llewelynn and Sons' Festival of Oddities were a dying breed, clawing and gasping for their final breaths in a world growing immune to their charms. Gone were the days when the curiosities hidden in its wagons could stun and woo the crowds in New York and Chicago – progress and political correctness had long barred the carnival from the major cities. Now its only lifeblood was the small towns and backwoods settlements, where those sheltered from the outside world could still be amazed at sights like a two-headed calf, a half-spider half-monkey beast, or a child with butterfly wings and jewel-like eyes.

Perhaps that was for the best, Ben Tennyson thought as he hunkered down behind a rotting log and studied the carnival as it set camp for the night. There was a time when he might have joined the crowds in gawking at some bizarre creature, sentient or not, and even paid good money for the privilege. But something about spending time in the skin, fur, feathers, scales, and shells of many such creatures made the thought of a business like this even existing sickening to him.

Lights winked out in every wagon save one as the carnival settled in for the night. The occasional whicker of a horse or the thump of something testing the bars of its cage were the only sounds to reach his ears. If there was a time to slip in and open the cages, it was now.

"Okay, looks like everyone's asleep for the night," he whispered to his partner. "Let's go perform a jailbreak."

Rook Blonko didn't move. Ben glanced over to see the lanky, cat-faced Revonnahgander still staring at the sleeping carnival through the targeting scope of his Proto-Tool gun, eyes narrowed and gaze shifting from wagon to wagon.

"Um, Rook, I'm pretty sure you don't have the ability to pick locks with your eyes," Ben told his partner. "We're gonna have to actually go down there."

"Not yet," Rook murmured. "This is strange."

"Yeah, weird that in this day and age they'd still be using horse-drawn wagons to get around, huh?" He twisted the dial on the Omnitrix, trying to settle on a suitable alien form for this mission. "You'd think they'd find trucks easier, or even a train…"

"Not that," Rook replied. "It is far too quiet down there. I do not see any guards at the wagons. If they are truly holding sentient aliens in those wagons, it would make sense that they would keep them under heavy guard."

"Then I guess they're just stupid." Ben finally let the dial rest on one of his favorite forms – Four-Arms, the muscular Tetramand alien that he prized as a powerful close-quarters brawler. "C'mon, let's go! If they're not going to guard the wagons, let's take advantage of their idiocy."

"I do not think that is a good idea," Rook insisted. "Perhaps we should wait here and perform a little more reconnaissance first…"

Ben rolled his eyes. "Fine, you do recon. I'll go kick butt." A bright green hologram of Four-Arms materialized over the device on his wrist. "It's hero time!"

"Wait, Ben, do not-"

Rook's warning came an instant too late. Ben raised his hand and slammed it down atop the Omnitrix. Green light enveloped his body, leaving a vivid emerald silhouette that went liquid and morphed into a taller, lither form. A moment later the light faded, and a cloaked and hooded form stood in the human teenager's place.

His partner raised an eyebrow. "I do not see the advantages of that form when it comes to 'kicking butt,' Ben."

"What do you mean…" Ben began in a soft, hissing voice, then glanced down at himself. No scarlet four-armed fighter here – he was now a slender, blue-and-black being, like a humanoid moth with emerald compound eyes and wings that folded about his body like a cowl. "Oh, for the love of… I swear this thing hates me."

"You will have to make do with it," Rook noted dryly as lights flickered on inside wagon after wagon. "You seem to have attracted their attention."

"Rats," Ben muttered. "Fine, then. I can still kick butt as Big Chill." And he unfurled his wings, sending himself aloft with a powerful thrust downward. Rook darted after him, staying within the shadow left by his outstretched wings.

Carnival workers began spilling out of the wagons, shouting at each other in a mix of languages, some carrying shotguns. With a cry one of them raised his weapon and fired, but the cluster of buckshot passed directly through Ben's insubstantial form. In retaliation he folded his wings and dove, spraying a stream of ice that froze the gun solid in his attacker's hands.

"No, no, no!" Llewelynn himself staggered out of the biggest wagon, wearing a stained white undershirt and plaid boxer shorts, waving his arms to get his workers' attention. "Don't shoot it! We want it live! We can put it with the little one!"

Ben pulled up from his dive to hover just over Llewelynn, compound eyes narrowed in a scowl. "I'm not some carnival freak for you to put on display! And neither are the other aliens you've kidnapped and caged to show off to the crowds! Let them go or I'll freeze you solid!"

Llewelynn just grinned, showing off several gold-capped teeth. "A man's got to make a living in this world, eh? So what if a few creatures have to live in chains for it? That's show business!" And he waved at a burly tattooed man who stepped out of another wagon. "Sergei, the net cannon!"

Ben swooped and dove again and again, harrying the workers with well-timed blasts of ice. He didn't notice the carnival's strong-man readying a heavy cannon… nor did he see the energy-laced net flying toward him until it was too late.

* * *

Rook thought he was prepared for what he would find inside the carnival's menagerie wagons. He'd seen all manner of victims, prisoners, and refugees as a Plumber, people injured and traumatized by criminals and warlords and disasters. He thought such sights would have inured him to seeing the suffering of other sentient creatures by now.

While the cowering aliens inside the cages were certainly not the worst he'd ever seen – they appeared well-fed, and while some bore bruises and whip marks none looked to be severely beaten – the look of terror and despair on each face cut him deeply.

"It is okay," he whispered, holstering his Proto-Tool and raising his hands in a universal gesture of friendliness. "I am Rook Blonko, Plumber agent. I am here to rescue you."

A blue-furred, multiple-armed Arachnichimp – a creature Ben would have informally referred to as "Spider Monkey," and whose cage bore an elaborately-painted, grotesque sign with the same name – gave a hiccupping screech and backed further into a corner of his cage.

"Do not be afraid," Rook tried again. "I promise I mean you no harm."

"How do we know that?" demanded a yellow-furred alien, one with a broad simian body and whose cage placard declared her to be The Golden Yeti but whom Rook recognized as a Gimlinopithecus – what Ben called "Shocksquatch." "How're we supposed to trust you, eh? Last hoser who called himself a Plumber 'round me sold me here!"

"Please keep your voice down," Rook requested, though he frowned at her mention of a corrupt, self-serving Plumber. He made a mental note to have one of the officers question her in greater detail when this was all over. "Rest assured that Ben Tennyson and I…"

"Tennyson?" repeated what looked like a reptilian mermaid in a too-small tank in the back of the wagon – the Fantastic Sea-Dragon according to the sign on its tank, but in reality a Pisciss Volann, or "Ripjaws" as Ben would call it. "Ben Tennyson's here? The Omnitrix-bearer?"

Rook sighed softly but nodded. He supposed he should be used to playing second-fiddle to Ben by now.

"Guys, this IS a rescue!" the aquatic alien snarled, swinging his arms out enthusiastically enough for water to slosh out of his tank. "He's tellin' the truth!"

"I still don't trust him…" the Gimlinopithecus protested.

"Oh, save it," the Volann retorted. "Let's get out of here. I'm tired of being stuck in this fishbowl and being gawked at for my meals. Get us out of here, Mr. Blonko."

Rook nodded and drew his Proto-Tool again, carefully twisting and manipulating it in his hands. Usually a hand-held blaster, the Tool could take on a variety of useful forms to suit most situations, though in this case he needed it as a…

"Perfect." He flicked the trigger a few times to ensure this new form – a blowtorch – would work properly, then bent down to begin cutting the bars of the closest cage. The occupant, a young Necrofriggian – the same kind of alien whose form Ben now wore as Big Chill, hailed by the carnival's sign as Mothman's Daughter – watched him work with wide compound eyes, wings twitching nervously.

"Do not fret, little one," he assured her – he could only guess at the gender, since despite the carnival billing the child as female most Necrofriggians were gender-neutral or even gender-fluid. "This will only take a moment…"

She gave a screeching cry.

"Did I burn you?" he gasped, yanking the Proto-Tool back. "I did not mean…"

Then he realized a shadow had fallen over him, and he turned to face the hulking robot that loomed over him. Gunmetal gray and covered in dents and scratches, it bore a flat, blank face marked only by a single red visual sensor, and two sets of thick arms ended in powerful pincers. These it raised and clanked threateningly together before it thumped toward Rook.

"Ah," he murmured. "That would explain the lack of guards."

"Way to go, Plumber, you're dead," the Gimlinopithecus muttered.

* * *

The Big Chill form normally let Ben phase right through solid objects… but certain types of energy could mess with his molecular structure to prevent it. And whatever was coursing through the woven-steel strands of this net was doing just that. His entire body buzzed as if trying to shake itself apart as he struggled to free himself from the net. All he managed to do was tangle himself more tightly in it.

"Splendid!" Llewelynn declared, a huge gold-toothed grin splitting his face. "Absolutely splendid! We can put him right in with Mothman's Daughter! Make it a family act!"

"Dude," Ben rasped, trying to free an arm that was trapped beneath his wing without injuring either limb. "That's not going to work. Just let me go so I can punch you and tie you up already."

"Sorry, exhibits don't get to talk back to their owner," he retorted, kicking Ben in the side. "Sergei, take him to the menagerie and…"

The Omnitrix let out a series of descending beeps… and Ben found himself minus a pair of limbs, still tangled in the net but back in his human form. The carnival workers backed away, muttering and more than one crossing himself, but the transformation just seemed to delight Llewelynn all the more.

"Ho-ho-ho!" he crowed. "He's a shapeshifter! Even better! Sergei, we still have that empty cage left over after the Flaming Man escaped. Get him in there!"

Sergei grunted and bent down to grab him. He kicked out at the strong-man, struggling to get his arm close enough to activate the Omnitrix again. If he could just find a way to jury-rig it so he could avoid its cool-down period…

A horrific metallic bellow ripped the air, and he glanced up to see Rook bolt out of a nearby wagon… with an eight-foot-tall robot hot on his heels.

"Oh, bother," Llewelynn sighed. "Someone's gotten the Guard-Bot riled up again."

"Rook!" Ben shouted. "Rook, over here!"

"I am a little busy, Ben!" Rook called back.

The Guard-Bot made a grab for Rook, but he ducked to the side just in time. Its pincers instead ripped into a tree-trunk, shredding bark and wood, and the machine rumbled as if in frustration as it turned to continue the pursuit.

"That thing looks like overkill," Ben noted, still wriggling to get free.

Llewelynn chuckled. "You think I'd keep such a valuable menagerie and not have some means of protecting my investment? I went to a lot of trouble to acquire prime specimens, not to mention grease the palms of intergalactic organizations to keep their noses out of my business. Though most of them don't have noses… but that's beside the point. The point is you and your friend have meddled in my affairs, and you're going to pay for-"

Ben never found out what they would pay for – Rook abruptly changed direction, leading the Guard-Bot directly toward the crowd. The workers screamed and scattered as both Plumber and robot charged through them, and even Llewelynn flung himself aside as Rook moved to stand right over Ben's prone form.

"Rook, are you crazy?!" Ben demanded.

"Perhaps," Rook replied, "but this might be crazy enough to work."

The Guard-Bot lunged, and its pincers stabbed downward to make a grab for Rook. He sprang to the side at the last possible moment, and the robot grabbed the net trapping the human boy instead. With one swift jerk, the metallic webbing tore open.

"Yes!" Ben sprang to his feet, and he slammed his hand repeatedly against the Omnitrix. "C'mon, c'mon, C'MON! Why won't you work?!"

The fifth slap must have been the charm – his body shifted form once again. The Guard-Bot had just twisted around to make another grab at Rook when a blast of ice encased it in a glittering crystal prison.

Rook slumped forward, hands on his knees, panting for breath. "Th-thanks."

"Don't mention it," Ben rasped, beating his wings until he was aloft again. "Not the form I was trying for – was going for Jury Rigg – but I guess Big Chill is the form of the night."

"It works… for now," Rook gasped, and pointed toward the menagerie wagon. "Go… let the aliens free… I will clean up here…"

"You sure?" Ben asked. "You don't look so good…"

"Just go!"

"All right, all right, yeesh…" He flew to the wagon and phased through the wall, landing atop the Arachnachimp's cage.

"See?" the Volann growled, waving a scaly arm at Ben. "That's Ben Tennyson! I TOLD you that Plumber was telling the truth!"

"Oh, shut up, hoser," the Gimlinopithecus snarled.

"Just hold tight," Ben told them. "I'm here to break you out." And he blasted ice at the lock on the electric alien's cage. Once it was encased, he touched down on the wagon floor and gave it a kick that shattered the frozen metal like glass.

"Hmph, about time," she grunted, and she swung the cage door open and leaped out without another word.

"Don't mind her," the Volann told him. "Spending three years having human brats poking you through the bars of your cage'll do that to ya."

Ben shuddered and set about freezing the locks on the other cages. Three years… that sounded like a nightmare to him. How had this carnival flown under the Plumbers' radar for so long?

One by one the other inhabitants of the circus fled the menagerie, some grateful, others impatient, all just glad to be free once again. He silently ticked them off by the nicknames he'd always given them – Spider Monkey, Shocksquatch, Ripjaws, Blitzwolfer, Big Chill, Armodrillo, Pesky Dust…

Finally the wagon stood empty save for him… just in time for the Omnitrix to time out a second time and return him to human form. He took a moment to simply revel in a job well done, grinning in satisfaction. Outside he could hear the wail of sirens and the bickering of Earth police officers and Plumber agents, each claiming jurisdiction over the crime scene. Dimly he thought that he'd probably be in for a lecture for not waiting for backup before springing the prisoners – from Azmuth if no one else – but at the moment he didn't care. He was just happy at the prospect of another job well done…

Something was tugging at his jacket, and he glanced down to find the young Big Chill looking up at him. It was much shorter than he was, the top of its head barely level with his waist, and it had yet to lose the soft plumpness of its youth. Its wings didn't fold about it like a cloak, but waved slowly back and forth behind it like the wings of a butterfly. The blue of its skin was softer and lighter than his own Big Chill form's, more of a baby blue than the sky-blue of his own colors, and its green compound eyes had an odd iridescence to them that made them look almost like opals.

Ben crouched down to the little Big Chill's level. "Hey, little guy… you know you're free to go, right? There's nothing keeping you here."

It didn't answer. Instead it reached out and took one of his hands in its own, inspecting it all over like a palm reader telling his fortune.

"Um… don't Necrofriggian babies just fly off into deep space after they hatch?" he ventured. "You can fly off if you want to… or just keep playing with my hand, that's cool too…"

It lifted his hand to its face, inspecting it more closely, and the feathery antennae sprouting from its shoulders caressed his palm. Then it gave a high trill, as if finding what it was looking for, and let go.

" _Abru!"_ It fluttered its wings, rising three feet off the floor and chirring in excitement. _"Abru!"_

"I… have no idea what that means," Ben replied.

"If you'd studied Necrofriggian culture and biology, you would."

Ben stood and whirled to find his grandfather watching him from the doorway of the wagon. He'd expected Grandpa Max to be irritated with him… but the elder Tennyson just smiled in amusement, arms folded over his chest.

"I know you told me about your past misadventures in your Necrofriggian form," Max went on, laughing softly. "But I never thought I'd see the results."

"What are you talking about?" Ben demanded.

" _Abru!"_

"And what does that word mean anyway?"

Max laughed even harder. "Oh my… _Abru_ is a gender-neutral term used by several alien species, Necrofriggians included. It's nothing official, more slang than anything – and it's the equivalent of a human child using the words 'mama' or 'papa,' though _abru_ is usually reserved for when the gender of the parent isn't necessarily clear or doesn't matter."

"Wait." Ben stared at the Necrofriggian child, which was now flitting in circles over his head. "Are you saying this guy is…"

"Congratulations, Ben," Max replied, beaming with impish glee. "One of your Necrofriggian children has finally tracked you down. You're officially a mother."


	2. Introducing Aurora

Ben wasn't sure which was going to be worse – explaining to Azmuth that the Necrofriggian hatchling they'd rescued was his own child, or explaining to his parents that they were grandparents to an alien baby. The former would probably deliver a scathing (and boring) lecture on personal responsibility and keeping better track of his own spawn – never mind that he hadn't exactly had control over THAT situation. The latter… well, saying that they wouldn't take it as well as Grandpa Max had was probably a bit of an understatement. If they didn't have a stroke over the news, he'd probably end up grounded or worse.

For the moment, he was content to take sanctuary at the Plumber base instead of breaking the news to either party. At least everyone here seemed to accept what had happened – they'd all seen far stranger over the years.

"She's actually really adorable," Gwen noted with a smile as she, Ben, and Kevin watched through the medbay's observation window. "I'd forgotten how sweet they were."

"Kinda shocked that one of your kids turned out to be cute, Tennyson," Kevin noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh har har," Ben retorted. "And how are you so sure it's a she, Gwen? I thought Big Chills didn't have gender."

"They're called Necrofriggians," she corrected, turning to glare at him. "Honestly, can you be bothered to know their real names? And I have to call her something, right? It just seems so… wrong… calling her 'it.'"

Inside the medbay, a Plumber medic was giving the hatchling an examination. The child sat on the exam table and watched the human woman's every move with faceted green eyes, slowly fanning her wings open and shut but otherwise not moving. The medic wore a smile as she worked, doubtless happy to have a patient who didn't squirm, curse, or scream like a girl in her presence.

"What's she doing here in the first place?" asked Kevin. "I thought Necrofriggians lived out in space until they grew up. No way one should even be here on Earth."

"Rook says some of the aliens we rescued from the carnies said something about a Plumber," Ben replied. "Maybe she was caught and sold to him by one."

"By one of our own?" Gwen demanded. "Ben, you realize what you're implying, right? That one of the Plumbers is exploiting aliens for profit?"

"Yeah, but at least we rescued those aliens," Ben protested. "What's the big deal?"

"You don't call slave trafficking a big deal?" She clenched her hands into fists, as if wanting to knock some sense into her cousin's skull. "What kind of a 'hero' are you?"

"Then we go out and rescue them too, all right?" Ben retorted. "Come on, how hard can it be?"

"Ben, I swear, for being Azmuth's pet you are the biggest numbskull that I ever-"

"I am SO not Mr. Grumpy-Pants' pet-"

"Not that watching you two fight isn't entertaining," Kevin cut in, "but I think they're done with your kid, Ben." He pointed through the window, where the medic was helping the hatchling down from the exam table. The Necrofriggian took the woman's hand and pressed her palm to hers – some sort of thanks or farewell gesture, perhaps – then walked toward the wall… and ran into it with an audible thump.

Ben knew he shouldn't laugh, but a snort escaped his nose at that, earning him a glare from Gwen.

"Guess phasing through walls doesn't come instinctively to these guys," he noted with a sheepish grin toward his cousin.

"You're cruel, laughing at a baby," she snapped.

"What, it was funny!" Ben protested.

"I gotta admit, it was kinda hilarious," Kevin chuckled.

Gwen threw up her hands with an exasperated sigh. "Men. Impossible."

The medbay door opened, and the Necrofriggian hatchling toddled out on slightly unsteady legs – whether because she was more used to flying than walking or the knock against the wall had dazed her, Ben wasn't sure. Her bright emerald eyes glittered as she fixed them on him, and with a chirp she hurried toward him, wrapping her arms around his knees.

"Uh… hi?" he ventured.

" _Abru,"_ she peeped, and nestled her head against him. Her wings fluttered happily.

"That's adorable," the medic noted, walking out with a wide smile on her face.

"How is she?" asked Gwen. "Healthy, I hope?"

"As far as we can tell," the medic replied. "There's been very little study done of Necrofriggian children, seeing as they almost always fly into deep space immediately after hatching and don't make planetfall until they're in the 'teenage' stage. But she looks healthy and in good shape for her age." She smiled at Ben. "It's so sweet that you're offering to adopt her, even though I'm sure she can take care of herself just fine."

"I'm not adopting her!" Ben insisted. "It's, uh… it's really complicated."

The medic opened her mouth to say something… then her eyes flickered to something behind the three teens. She snapped her mouth shut and straightened, raising one arm in a salute.

"At ease," Grandpa Max's voice ordered. "The First Thinker's just here to talk to Ben about the hatchling."

Ben groaned. Here he thought he'd get at least a little respite before having to confront Azmuth about this whole situation. He really wasn't in the mood to get yelled at for fathering an alien child – despite Gwen calling him "Azmuth's pet," he could never seem to do anything good enough to suit the old Galvan, so why should this be any different?

He twisted around to face Max and Azmuth as best he could with a moth-alien toddler hanging onto his legs. Max didn't bother to hide a laugh at the sight, while Azmuth simply narrowed his eyes – which, given that Galvan eyelids moved horizontally rather than vertically, was an odd sight.

"I can explain," Ben told them. "Kinda."

"No explanations are necessary," Azmuth replied. "In fact, I've been expecting this for some time."

Ben's jaw dropped. He'd never told Azmuth about the "nesting" incident – when his Big Chill form had hijacked his mind and body, driving him to build a nest and lay eggs. He'd been too embarrassed by the whole ordeal to even think about it again, let alone report it to anyone aside from Grandpa Max. Bad enough that Gwen and Kevin liked to tease him about it at every opportunity; if the rest of the Plumbers learned he'd popped out a batch of kids, he'd be a laughingstock.

"You knew about this all the time?" Gwen asked.

"Knew about it?" repeated Azmuth. "I planned for this eventuality. There's a reason I went to all the trouble of locating a Necrofriggian close to nesting for their species' DNA sample when I built the Omnitrix!"

"Wait, you actually WANTED me to lay eggs?" demanded Ben, though he felt more dumbfounded than actually angry. "That's all kinds of messed-up, Azmuth!"

"That all depends on your definition of 'messed-up.'" The First Thinker stepped forward and took one of the hatchling's wings in his hands, stretching it out to inspect the length. "The Omnitrix was meant to be a tool to allow the wearer to better understand the culture of other races – to see through their eyes, walk in their feet, look upon the universe from another races' perspective. And if they experienced other aspects of those races' culture and life cycles, so much the better. And if the life cycle of the Necrofriggian includes the urge to nest and produce young, then so be it."

Ben looked down at the Omnitrix with a grimace, feeling his stomach churn. "So how many of these aliens are rigged to make me pop out kids? Don't tell me Upchuck is pregnant or Diamondhead is going to lay geode eggs or something."

Azmuth blew out a sigh and lowered the wing. "How my creation could have ended up in the hands of the most narrow-minded, hard-headed-"

"Easy, Azmuth," Max urged. "Ben comes from a culture that looks down on unwed and underage parents, and that considers a man being a mother unnatural. If you want him to better understand other cultures, perhaps you should make a few allowances for his culture too."

Azmuth sighed again. "Only because it's your grandson, Tennyson. But the answer to your question is no – unless you have some sort of liaison in one of your alien forms or are still in possession of the Omnitrix when you're ninety, you won't be producing more non-human children." He grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "praise the Omniverse."

The leaden feeling in his gut dissipated some at that. "Phew… that's good to know." He looked down at the hatchling still wrapped around his legs. "What about this one, though? Why is she here instead of off in deep space with her siblings?"

"A genetic mutation that crops up in approximately one in every hundred thousand Necrofriggians," Azmuth replied, moving to inspect her other wing. "The vast majority of them abandon the planet of their birth upon hatching, subsisting on cosmic energy and only returning to their homeworld or colonizing another world when they reach adolescence. But one born with a slight mutation in a particular gene will be struck by an overwhelming drive to find their parent – their mother – at all costs. They'll return to the world where they hatched and track their mother down by scent, though anymore public records will be just as helpful if they're available and they know how to access them."

"So what happens when they finally find Mommy?" asked Kevin.

"In some cases the mother ignores them or drives them away. Necrofriggians are not terribly social by nature, and are not given to forming family groups. But in most cases the mother shares the mutated gene – it had to be passed along somehow, after all – and accepts the child, raising it much like a human mother would raise their own young."

Ben stared down at the hatchling. She stared back, fluttering her free wing and chirping softly at him, her compound eyes softening and gleaming with something like adoration. She was actually pretty cute for a bug, and that expression almost melted something inside him… almost.

"You chose a Necrofriggian with the mutation on purpose, didn't you?" asked Max.

"The Omnitrix user needed to experience as many aspects of each alien's life as possible," Azmuth replied. "Yes, I deliberately chose a candidate with the mutation. I wasn't certain it would be passed on to the offspring, but the chances were decent enough to satisfy me."

"But I can't raise her," Ben protested, looking up at Grandpa Max. "I'm still in school! I don't even have a car, let alone a job! How am I supposed to support and raise a kid? And still handle my hero duties at the same time?"

"For once can you think of something besides being a hero?" Gwen demanded, folding her arms and glaring in exasperation. "You're a mother now! It's time to think of someone besides yourself!"

"But I have no idea how to be a mother!" Ben protested. "I never asked for this!"

"If you reject the hatchling, they'll most likely waste away out of grief," Azmuth said scathingly. "It's how it usually ends up with hatchlings born with this mutation. Would you really inflict that on your own flesh and blood?"

Ben opened and shut his mouth a few times, but found he didn't have it in him to protest. Doing that to any hatchling, especially one he'd just rescued, would be barbaric. And despite all his protests, the thought of abandoning the hatchling – HIS hatchling – made his heart ache. There was some part of him in her, however small, and the thought of rejecting his own child, whatever the circumstances of her birth, was disgusting.

That didn't solve the problem, of course – namely that he had no idea how to raise a child, let alone an alien one. He was a high school student still living with his parents and who occasionally moonlighted as a hero. How was he supposed to play mommy, keep his grades up, AND save Bellwood every week or so? It was a daunting thought… and the accusing looks from Gwen and Azmuth weren't helping.

"Gwen, Azmuth, please lay off," Max insisted. "Yes, Ben's a mother now, and yes, you both want what's best for the hatchling. But stop acting as if he acted irresponsibly and fathered an illegitimate child. He had no choice in the matter, had no say over whether he would be a parent or not, and had no idea that taking this mission would end with a child in his care. He's young and scared…"

"I'm not scared," Ben said out of reflex, though of course that was a lie – this whole situation had him on the verge of freaking out.

"…and you two browbeating him for being afraid and unsure about this whole situation is doing nothing to help him." Max folded his arms across his chest. "If he chooses not to raise the hatchling, the Plumbers will take her in. If he chooses to raise her, we'll do everything in our power to help him. But let it be his choice, seeing as he had no choice in being a mother in the first place."

If Azmuth was at all stung by Max's veiled accusation – that he had pretty much forced motherhood onto Ben without his permission – he didn't let it show. "The Plumbers have enough to deal with without having to play nanny as well. If Ben refuses the child, I'll take her back to Galvan Prime with me. I've never raised a Necrofriggian hatchling, but it would be a novel exercise. And goodness knows the child needs someone with actual experience with children taking care of her."

At Azmuth's words, Ben made his decision… and he reached down and pried the hatchling's arms off his legs. He lifted her in his arms, amazed at how lightweight she felt. She chirped and fluttered her wings, looping her arms around his neck.

"I'll take care of her," Ben assured his grandfather. "She IS my daughter, and the last thing I wanna be is a deadbeat dad, right? I might need a little help, though… I'm good at being a hero, but this parenting thing's really new to me."

Max nodded, and a smile spread over his face. "I'll do what I can to help you, all right? It's the least I can do for my great-grandchild."

Gwen looked like she wanted to add her two bits, then sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry for what I said, Ben… I was just worried you'd ditch her just because she'd get in the way of you being a hero. Thanks for proving me wrong."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Ben replied. "Besides, with me as a dad – or mom, or _abru_ or whatever you want to call it – she's pretty much destined to grow up to be as awesome as me, right?"

Gwen quirked an eyebrow. "We'll see about that."

"You gonna name her?" asked Kevin. "Just calling her 'Hatchling' all the time is gonna get old."

"Traditionally Necrofriggians select their own names when they reach maturity-" began Azmuth.

"But Kevin's right, I need something to call her," Ben cut in, and he slid his hands beneath her arms and held her at arm's length, regarding her critically. She cocked her head to mirror his movements, shoulder-antennae twitching, eyes gleaming curiously.

"I could always name her Elsa," he suggested at last. "After that Disney princess with ice powers?"

Gwen gave him a look that told him exactly how dumb of an idea she thought that was.

"I dunno if it fits," Kevin added. "Plus Elsa's a queen, not a princess."

"Like I'm supposed to keep track of those things," Ben retorted. "Uh… what else is a good ice name? Frosty? Frozone? No, that was a guy…"

Gwen looked like she wanted to facepalm. Kevin just grinned, obviously enjoying the show.

The hatchling chirred softly and fanned her wings, the light catching the minute scales that covered them and shining in iridescent patterns. Funny, he'd never looked that closely at his own wings in Big Chill form… he'd never realized just how beautiful they could look, especially up close. And the swirling patterns of iridescence almost reminded him of something else… the Northern Lights, though they had another name, didn't they…

"Aurora," he decided with a nod. "Her name is Aurora."

Kevin snorted. "Still stuck on Disney princess names, huh?"

"Shut up, I'm naming her after the Aurora Bori-whatever they're called," Ben shot back, and he lifted the hatchling to sit on his shoulders. "What do you say, Aurora?"

" _Abru!"_ she replied, snuggling her chin against his hair. Then, after a moment's thought, "Aurora!"

"Atta girl." He laughed and settled her in on his shoulders. "Now comes the fun part – telling Mom and Dad."

"You want me to go with you?" asked Max. "I could try to help soften the blow a bit."

"Nah, I got this. How hard can it be?"

* * *

Ben was really regretting those last words to his grandpa right now.

"You WHAT?!" Mom shrieked, dropping the casserole dish she'd just pulled out of the oven.

Ben winced, more at the sound of crockery and food hitting the floor than at the waste of squash-and-tofu casserole. "I… brought home your grandkid?"

"Don't even joke about this, Ben," Dad ordered. He hadn't reacted quite as spectacularly as Mom – but then, he hadn't been holding anything when Ben had dropped the bombshell – but he still looked a shade or two paler than normal. "It's way too serious a matter."

Ben shook his head. "I'm not joking. I, uh… I have a kid. Several of them, actually, but I only brought home the one."

Dad shut his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly before replying with a single word: "HOW?"

"It's a REALLY long story," Ben told them. "But um… it happened in one of my alien forms…"

"I knew it!" Mom threw her hands up in the air and looked heavenward as if appealing to the gods of organic cooking or whoever else might be listening. "I KNEW you were getting up to no good with that Omnitrix! My baby off carousing with alien women on other planets!"

"Mom, seriously…" This was embarrassing enough without his mom wigging out over it.

"Now honey, it's the 21st century," Dad pointed out. "We knew he was going to, um, experiment sooner or later. It's natural when boys hit a certain age. We didn't know it would be with aliens, but…"

"Mom, Dad, seriously!" Ben cut in. "I didn't sleep with an alien!"

"You had to do SOMETHING to have a kid," Mom pointed out as she bent down to scrape up the remains of dinner. "Children don't just pop out of thin air."

"Just… don't freak out, okay? But long story short is that, well, one of my alien forms was pregnant and made me have kids about a year ago. We thought they all took off for deep space, but… one came back."

"You… had kids?" Dad repeated. "As in actually gave birth? Like a seahorse?"

"Um… that's one way to put it."

Dad went several shades paler. Mom opened and shut her mouth a few times before regaining her voice. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"Because I didn't think they were coming back. And I didn't want you to freak out."

"We're not freaking out!" she insisted as she reached up to brush her hair out of her face, forgetting her hands were covered in squash. "What made you think we would freak out?"

"Honey, relax," Dad told her. "It's shocking yes, and we weren't expecting our son to become a father so young. But… well… we'll try to be understanding, won't we?"

Mom breathed deeply for a moment, then managed a smile. "Oh Ben… I just worry what this is going to do for your future. You're still in school, and all this hero business on top of it… are you sure you can manage being a parent at the same time?"

Ben looked down at his shoes, wondering how to broach this topic. "I… was hoping you guys could help me. I mean… I don't know how to be a mom or a dad… and in this case I guess I'm both. I don't want to dump Aurora on you – that's her name – but I just need some help. Please?"

His parents exchanged a look between them, then Dad nodded and turned back to him. "We'll do what we can, okay? This is our grandchild we're talking about, and we'd be terrible people if we turned her away. We weren't expecting to be grandparents this soon, but… better now than never, right?" He chuckled.

"Aurora, you said?" Mom repeated. "That's a beautiful name." She wiped her hands on a towel. "Where is she? Could we see her?"

"She's up in my bedroom," Ben replied. "I figured I should explain things to you guys before you saw her. I'll go get her-"

A light blue form tumbled from the ceiling with a shrill squeak, passing through the plaster and a light fixture as if they were nothing more than a hologram. Ben let out a yelp of his own and leaped forward to catch Aurora, but the hatchling beat her wings furiously as instinct kicked in, leaving her hovering just a foot or so above the scattered remains of the casserole.

"Aurora, you scared me!"

She trilled softly. _"Abru!"_

"I guess you're finally learning to phase," he noted with a chuckle. "Um, Mom, Dad… this is Aurora, my daughter. She's what's called a Necrofriggian."

He didn't get a chance to explain much else before Mom let out an earsplitting scream of horror. Ben sighed. This would have gone so much better if he'd taken Grandpa Max's offer.


	3. Getting Settled

Ben woke up to find himself staring into a pair of emerald eyes – not just emerald in color, but faceted like a cut gemstone. Anyone else might have screamed in terror and bolted for the nearest window, or even taken a swing at the insectoid face that gazed down at them. But Ben had woken up to far stranger sights, and so even before the memory of the last twenty-four hours clicked back into place, he just stared back at the compound eyes that regarded him with fascination.

Aurora fanned her wings softly, sending a strangely dusty scent into his nostrils. _"Abru."_

"Good morning," Ben croaked, smacking his mouth a little to get rid of the morning dryness. "Looks like you're an early riser. That stinks – I was hoping you'd sleep in."

She chittered softly and sat back on her haunches on his chest. Despite being the size of a small child, she weighed very little, as if her bones were hollow like a bird's. It felt no worse than having a large pillow lying on his chest.

"You hungry?" he asked. "Want breakfast?"

" _Abru."_

"Yeah, you're good at saying that. Look, _abru_ can't spend the whole day with you – he's gotta go to school. You're going to stay here with your grandma, okay?"

" _Abru."_

"Urgh… okay, _abru's_ going to the library after school to get some Hooked on Phonics CDs. You're learning English first thing."

Aurora squeaked in reply and beat her wings, as if English lessons were the most exciting thing in the world to her. Maybe they were, who knew? He just hoped she'd be equally excited about spending a day with her grandmother.

After the initial shock at finding they had a moth for a grandchild, Ben's parents had calmed down remarkably had freaked at first – what was it with women being afraid of bugs anyhow? – butupon seeing her scream of fright had scared Aurora, she composed herself and did her best to comfort her. Within minutes the two were bonding in the living room, Mom kneeling on the carpet and letting Aurora explore her face and hands with her antennae. Ben figured that a woman who called Ma Vreedle a family friend couldn't be weirded out by an alien grandchild for too long.

Dad, meanwhile, seemed a little more reserved about the whole situation. He hadn't panicked or gotten upset, but all the same he acted with a slight reluctance that even Ben noticed. Was he irritated about suddenly having a live-in grandchild? Or was it something else?

He reflected back on their conversation last night, when they had been readying a place for Aurora to sleep. Perhaps there was a clue there he hadn't thought much of at the time…

" _You're lucky I won this thing at the company raffle a few months back. And even luckier that we hadn't filled it up completely yet. And here I thought a chest freezer would be useless."_

" _It'll be perfect for her. Or at least until Blukic and Driba get around to building a refrigerated spare room for her. Um… sorry for the hassle."_

" _Not a hassle. If anything, it's an excuse to eat all the steaks and frozen dinners I had stashed in here. Your mom might be a health nut, but she hates wasting food more than she hates us eating what she calls junk."_

" _Ice cream for breakfast, huh?"_

" _You betcha. Now let's get your little girl moved in here. Or little whatever-it-is… you did say her kind don't have genders, right?"_

" _Not really, but I'm just thinking of Aurora as a 'her' for now. It's simpler, I guess."_

" _Whatever you say. All right, I think it's ready for her. She should be able to open it from the inside, so there's no chance of her getting stuck. Though if she can go through walls, then I guess she doesn't need to be able to open it. Do I need to drill air holes?"_

" _Nah, she'll be fine. Her kind live in outer space for a lot of their lives. I'm guessing they don't need oxygen, or at least not nearly as much as we do."_

" _Ben… are you sure you're ready for this? You do understand that being a parent is a BIG responsibility."_

" _Everyone keeps harping on me over this… yes, I'm sure. She's my kid. I can't just ignore her and pretend she doesn't exist, right?"_

" _While I'm proud of you for wanting to look after her… you have to understand. You're still in high school, and you have your responsibilities toward the Plumbers to take into account. And while I know you're an amazing young man, I don't know if you're up to juggling three big commitments at once."_

" _I can handle it, Dad. I'm Ben Tennyson, remember? If I can save the universe several times over, I can handle being a parent."_

" _I just hope you know what you're doing…"_

A little hand poked at his nose, returning him to reality.

" _Abru?"_

"Yeah, I should get ready for school here." He lifted her off his chest and set her on the bed before climbing to his feet. "You be good for grandma, okay? I'll be back soon."

She chirped in reply. He wasn't sure if she understood him, but figured she would get the gist of what he meant once he'd actually left the house. He shuffled toward the bathroom to shower and get ready for his morning.

It didn't take long before he realized leaving Aurora home was going to be easier said than done… and that realization came in the form of her phasing through the shower door to join him in his morning cleansing.

" _Abru!"_

"AUGH!" He jumped back in shock, ramming his shoulder against the wall. "Ow! Aurora, you almost gave Daddy a heart attack! Don't do that!"

The hatchling wilted, partly in shame at the scolding but mostly because the water raining down on her body was soaking her wings. They crumpled around her shoulders in a sorry imitation of the cloak-like shape they would take as an adult, and her antennae drooped over her shoulders like soggy rags.

"Eww," she squeaked.

"Yeah, it's wet in here." Ben sighed and nudged her back through the door. "Sorry I yelled, okay? Just don't come in here when _abru's_ showering, okay?"

She gave a peep that could have been a "yes" before vanishing through the shower door. Over the sound of spraying water he could hear her shaking vigorously like a dog after a swim. Sounded like he'd need to clean the bathroom tonight after school.

Once he'd dried himself and Aurora off (the towel left the coating of soft baby down all over her body sticking straight out, giving her the look of a frazzled blue kitten), he dressed and headed downstairs. The hatchling floated after him, a blue shadow that cooed and peeped the entire way.

"Aww." Mom gave a coo of her own as the pair entered the kitchen. "She really is cute. And she likes her daddy."

 _Mommy, technically,_ Ben thought, but decided not to correct her. "Are you still cool with watching her today while I'm at school?"

"Of course! I do have some shopping to do, but she can come with me. I just hope she takes to a car seat." She set a bowl on the table. "Get some breakfast in you before you go – and don't tell me you don't have time, I know perfectly well how long it takes you to get to school."

Ben stared into the bowl and grimaced. Even after spending untold hours in the bodies of aliens of every stripe, he still hadn't managed to expand his palette to accommodate anything terribly exotic, let alone Mom's health-food concoctions. And Mom's "specialty blend" of granola looked more like something Kickin' Hawk would eat than anything he'd touch.

"I'm really not hungry," he insisted. "I'll just grab a piece of fruit or something on my way out."

Mom sighed. "At least it's healthy, pick your battles," she told herself quietly before addressing Ben again. "What about Aurora? I have fruit juice, if she eats nectar like moths do."

"Hang on." He dug through his backpack and pulled out a datapad. "Azmuth gave me some info… there's got to be something about their diet here. Kevin said they feed on solar plasma for the first stage of their life, but she might be past that…"

A shriek tore his gaze from the 'pad. While he'd been distracted Aurora had flitted onto the table, and now she held a spoon in her hands and nibbled on the bowl of it, looking for all the world like a little kid with a lollipop.

"Oh, right," Ben laughed. "They eat metal. I thought they just used it to build nests."

Mom took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "That's all well and good… but we are teaching her that tableware is NOT snack food. And if she gets to the good silver, you're paying to replace it." She gave Ben a pointed look.

"Okay, okay, I'll make sure she doesn't eat anything important." Ben slung his backpack over one shoulder and grabbed a banana. "'Bye, Aurora. Be good for Grandma, okay?"

She peered up at him, still clutching the spoon handle. _"Abru?"_

" _Abru's_ going bye-bye for now. But I'll be home later, okay?"

" _Abru!"_ she crooned, and she fluttered up to eye level. "Bye-bye!"

"Yes, bye-bye." He patted her head and hurried out the door. Mom shouted something at his back, but he had already slammed the door behind him.

He had just pulled his bike out of the garage when he caught a flutter of blue out of the corner of his eye… and turned to find Aurora hovering behind him, gazing at him expectantly.

"No, Aurora, you can't come with me," he said sternly. "You have to stay here with your grandma."

"Bye-bye!" she insisted, bobbing up and down.

"No, no bye-bye." He pointed to his chest, then to the house. "Me bye-bye, you stay."

"Aurora bye-bye!" she trilled, and fluttered down to sit on the seat of his bike. " _Abru_ bye-bye, Aurora bye-bye!"

"No, Aurora," he insisted. "I'm pretty sure they don't allow baby Necrofriggians in a human high school, even in Bellwood." He picked her up and walked back to the house with her. "You need to stay here, okay?"

"Bye-bye!"

"No bye-bye!" He opened the door and set her on the floor. "I'll come back this afternoon… now _stay."_ And he shut the door again.

He hadn't gotten ten paces from the door when he heard soft wings beating just behind him, and he sighed and turned around. "Seriously, Aurora?"

She cocked her head to one side. "Bye-bye?"

"I've got her, Ben," Mom assured him, and she hurried over and plucked the hatchling out of the air. "You go on to school. I'll see if I can't keep her here."

"Thanks, Mom." He strapped on his helmet and climbed onto his bike. "Be good for Grandma, Aurora."

A high keen of sorrow followed him down the sidewalk, and he felt a pang at leaving her behind. He told himself that she'd be just fine, that she'd calm down and get used to staying with Grandma every day, but that didn't stop the guilt from gnawing at him. Especially when he realized that a call from Plumber Headquarters could easily keep him from coming straight home once classes were over… and keep him away from her that much longer.

 _Don't worry about it,_ he told himself. _Plenty of human parents leave their kids with babysitters all day and it works out all right for them. She'll be fine._

* * *

Aurora didn't understand what she'd done wrong. _Abru_ had left her! She had thought he'd been happy to be reunited with her, as happy as she'd been to finally scent her own DNA on him. She had found _Abru,_ and with him, she had thought, home and happiness. But he had scolded her for following him and left her all alone in this strange human house.

Well, not alone… the female he had called _Gran'mah_ was still here, and from the woman's scent it seemed she was _Abru_ to her own _Abru._ But she might as well have been stranded on a desolate asteroid as far as she was concerned.

She pressed her face to the window, staring down the road where _Abru_ had disappeared. He had to come back… right? He couldn't just leave her here forever, could he? Surely he would realize that they were family, and family didn't leave each other behind.

Her nest-mates had thought otherwise, though. Oh, they had stuck together for the first year or so after their hatching, for even the black of space had its predators and there was always safety in numbers. But slowly their little flock had begun to disperse, her siblings striking off to seek their own fortunes elsewhere, until they had scattered to the solar winds. Only she, the littlest of the hatchlings, had decided to go back to Earth and seek their birth-parent. And when she made the mistake of speaking her desire aloud to the last two nest-mates of the flock, they had refused to accompany her and thought her strange, even mad, for wanting to try.

 _Why couldn't they understand?_ she thought, pressing her hands to the window. _We are family. We share DNA. That has to matter somehow, right? At least… I thought it mattered…_

But here she was, having searched for months for her _abru,_ even paying for her troubles with that terrible stint in a traveling carnival… only for _Abru_ to abandon her a scant day later. Had her nest-mates been right all along? Had she been stupid for wanting to seek him out?

"Aurora?"

She didn't turn to face the speaker, only pressed her face harder to the glass as if hoping to extend her vision farther.

"Aurora?" _Gran'mah_ was nothing if not persistent. Her hand, smooth and strong, rested on Aurora's shoulder, and she continued to speak to her in that weird jabbering language she shared with _Abru._ Her tone was loving, even worried, and she seemed to be trying to comfort her.

With a hiss Aurora folded her wings tightly against her back and twisted away from that hand. Why couldn't _Gran'mah_ leave her alone? Couldn't she see that she was miserable and just wanted _Abru_ back?

 _Gran'mah_ murmured something else, and Aurora felt hands slide under her arms and lift her from the couch. Before she could do more than chitter in protest she found herself set on the floor in front of a blank screen, similar to the large readouts she had glimpsed in the Plumber base but curiously blank. Curiosity nudged its way through her sadness, and she cocked her head to the side in wonder. Perhaps _Abru's_ family used this to communicate? Maybe, if she could figure out how it worked, she could use it to call him…

 _Gran'mah_ spoke again, her tone rising slightly in what was clearly a question. She couldn't understand a word of it, however… though a word in said question piqued her interest.

"Kar… kar-toon?" she repeated, rolling the unfamiliar word about in her mandibles, trying out the shape and taste of it.

 _Gran'mah_ nodded. "Kar-toon!" she replied, and pointed a rectangular device at the screen. It flickered to life, filling with colors and shapes that danced and moved about.

"Oooooooooooh." Not a communications device, then… but something about the creatures capering about on the screen, laughing and singing and getting themselves into all sorts of misadventures, made her forget about her worries for a moment. Like _Abru_ and _Gran'mah,_ she couldn't understand what they were saying, but that didn't make their antics any less enjoyable. And if she paid attention she thought she could remember a word or two, and figure out their meanings on her own.

Mrs. Tennyson, for her part, gave a sigh of relief and went to go wash out and cut up some cans for Aurora's "lunch." She hated using the TV as a babysitter, but if _My Little Pony_ helped calm Aurora down and kept her from moping at the window, who was she to complain?

In the meantime, perhaps she should do something about proper clothes for the little hatchling. Alien or not, she wasn't taking her into town on a shopping expedition until she was decent. The wings might be an issue, but she had some rudimentary sewing skills and could perhaps alter something.

* * *

"Mr. Tennyson!"

Ben yelped and jumped in his seat, snapping out of his reverie. "What? What?"

Mr. Feeny rolled his eyes. "I suppose it's too much to ask if you've been paying attention to our topic of discussion?"

"Uh…" He wracked his brain for an answer that would be somewhere in the ballpark, or at the very least amuse the teacher enough to let him off the hook. "The average velocity of an unladen sparrow?"

Giggles rippled through the classroom, but Mr. Feeny looked anything but amused. "That'd be well and good if you were in physics class, but this is British Literature. If you put a quarter of the effort into your studies as you did in your heroic antics, you might actually get something better than a C in this class." He turned away from Ben. "Now can anyone ELSE repeat and explain one of the slogans used by theEnglish Socialist Party in George Orwell's _1984?_ "

Julie raised her hand. "'War is peace; freedom is slavery; ignorance is strength.' It's an example of doublethink, or believing in two contradictory concepts or states at the same time. Thus society can easily accept that their country is at war and at peace at the same time, or that they're stronger through not knowing what's going on."

"Very good, Ms. Yamamoto." Mr. Feeny nodded and smiled. "I certainly hope this class is following your example and not Mr. Tennyson's."

Ben rolled his eyes as the class tittered with laughter at his expense again. Whatever. As if knowing the details of a fictional government system from a book nobody but beleaguered high school students read anymore was going to help him in his daily life. Whether it was kicking butt with the Omnitrix, getting a job, or taking care of Aurora, he didn't see how George Orwell was going to help with his problems.

Speaking of Aurora… he couldn't help but wonder how she was doing. He'd assumed that once he got to school he'd stop thinking about her and be able to focus on his studies – out of sight, out of mind and all that. Mom would have her well in hand, right? And Grandpa Max was always on call in case Aurora got sick with some alien disease or had an accident or otherwise needed Plumber help. She'd be just fine.

 _If that's the case, why can't I stop thinking about her?_ He dug his fingers into his scalp as if trying to wring the thought of her out of his brain. Never mind that she was in good hands, he couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong. What if the carnival owner came back and tried to kidnap Aurora again? What if his family was breaking some kind of law and some government officials were on their way to remove her from their home? What if she ate something that turned out to be poisonous to her kind? What if she went out to wander the neighborhood and some alien-phobic neighbor freaked out and attacked her? What if… what if… what if…

 _Is this what it's like to be a parent? To be constantly worrying about your kid even if they're not right there with you? And am I going to feel completely stupid when I go home and nothing's happened and she's perfectly fine…_

Someone poked his shoulder, and he turned to face the boy on his right. Ethan held a finger up to his lips before handing over a folded slip of paper, then turned back to the front of the class. Ben ensured Mr. Feeny was occupied with his PowerPoint before opening the note beneath his desk and sneaking a look at the contents, written in Julie's careful hand.

 _You're super distracted. Something happen with the raid last night?_

Ben suppressed the urge to eye-roll again. Why was Julie so concerned with his Plumber activities all of a sudden? She hadn't spoken to him since the misunderstanding a few months back that had led to their breakup. Why the fuss now?

 _Fine. Things went well. Tell you more after class._ He handed the paper back to Ethan, who passed it off to Julie. She scowled as she read it, then scribbled something else and handed it back via Ethan.

 _Don't you dare blow me off. I know something went down – it was all over the news last night. What's going on? You're never THIS spacey in class._

 _It's nothing. And I thought you weren't speaking to me anymore._

 _Just because I think you're an insensitive blockhead doesn't mean I still don't worry about you. Talk. Now._

Ben sighed and relented, scribbling down a condensed version of events from that night on a fresh piece of paper and handing it back to Ethan while Mr. Feeny's back was turned. Ethan looked like he dearly wanted to be nosy and read the note, but in the end just sighed and passed it to Julie.

Julie's eyes lit up as she scanned the note, and she scribbled down a reply and handed it back.

 _Awwww! That's adorable! I always thought you made a good mommy! Is she still as adorable now as she was when she and her siblings hatched?_

 _I'm a guy, I don't do adorable._ Ben frowned at that line, then sighed and scratched it out before replacing it. _Yes. She is. Her name's Aurora._

 _Can I meet her? I haven't met nearly as many aliens as you have, and I think it would be exciting to see another Big Chill. Or at least one that isn't just you shape-changed._

 _Sure, if I don't have to do anything Plumber-related after school. You have tennis practice, right?_

 _Cancelled. Coach had to leave town for a funeral. Meet you at the flagpole after school._

 _Awesome. So does this mean we've made up?_

 _Nice try. See you after school._

Well, it had been worth a shot. Evidently it was going to take more to mend bridges than just introducing Aurora to her. Maybe it would at least be a start…

"TENNYSON!"

"Augh!" He jerked upright, gripping the sides of his desk. "I didn't do it!"

Mr. Feeny sighed. "No, but you're about to do it. Open your copy of _1984_ to page 150 and start reading aloud at the first paragraph."

Ben suppressed a groan as he pulled out the worn copy of the book and started flipping through it. Just two hours to go, and then he could see how Aurora was doing with Mom. And hopefully get a little input from Julie on how to tend her. Girls were supposed to be good with kids, right?

* * *

Magister Patelliday left the interrogation room with a pained groan, letting the door slide shut behind him. Max and Rook, waiting just outside for him, looked on in concern, and the younger Plumber rushed up to his side.

"She did not hurt you, did she, Magister?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," the aquatic Plumber assured him, pulling off his spectacles to rub at the bridge of his snout. "Gimlinopethicuses have no respect for authority whatsoever."

"Did she tell you anything about who captured her?" asked Max.

"Nothin' we don't already know," he huffed. "Mindin' her own business in Undertown, got hit with a tranq dart, woke up in a cage. Everyone who dealt with her wore masks. Even the fella in charge of the operation."

"That coincides with the reports from the Piscciss Volann and the Arachnichimp," Rook replied. "Whoever is doing this is taking great pains to ensure that they are not identified."

"If they never saw their captor's face, however, how are any of them certain that it was a Plumber who captured them?" asked Max.

"Might be 'cause whoever's doing this was wearing a Plumber's badge," Patelliday replied. "Oh, did I mention that? Well, the fella in charge apparently wore one, if the big ape was tellin' the truth."

Max shook his head, eyes dark and grave. "I want to think the Plumbers are free of corruption and would never stoop to these measures… but something like this isn't without precedent. Is it too much to hope that someone stole a Plumber badge and is using it to throw us off the scent?"

"Doubtful," Rook replied. "I looked at the records. There have been no reports of lost or stolen Plumber badges in quite some time. Unless it is a counterfeit."

"Whether they're a real Plumber or an imposter, we need to catch them, and soon," Max insisted. "We've worked too hard to establish ourselves on Earth and throughout the universe – we can't have a slaver ruining our reputation or sowing distrust of Plumbers among the aliens."

"An' how do you propose we do that?!" demanded Patelliday. "It could be any one of us! A new recruit, an officer, even one of the council! Even one of us!"

"Don't panic," Max urged. "We need to keep cool heads about this, and not start blindly accusing people. Rook, once Ben gets out of school, I'm assigning the two of you to go to Louisiana and question the carnival workers at the Baton Rouge Police Department. Patelliday and I will begin the internal investigation. Let's get down to the bottom of this fast, before more innocents get caught in the crossfire."


	4. Interrogation

"Mom, I'm home!" Ben called out, throwing open the front door. "And I brought Julie with me!"

"Hi Julie!" Mom called out, poking her head out of the kitchen. "Nice to see you again! Did the two of you finally make up? I know you were going through a rough patch for awhile."

"Hi, Mrs. Tennyson." Julie gave a little wave. "I'm just here to see Ben's new daughter, if that's okay."

"That's up to Ben, he's the mommy here." She walked into the living room, carrying a plate of cookies. "Boy, it's strange calling your own son 'mommy,' isn't it? But I think it's adorable… and I'm very proud of him for wanting to take the responsibility for his daughter."

"Mo-om," Ben groaned. "Please don't embarrass me in front of Julie."

"Ben, I saw you lay eggs," Julie reminded him. "Not much your mom says about you can faze me."

"Us girls have to keep him in line somehow," Mom laughed as she set the plate down on an end table. "Have one. They're fresh from the oven."

"How come you'll make junk food for company but not for family?" Ben asked as he snagged a cookie.

"Oh, hush, they're a new organic gluten-free recipe I picked up," she retorted. "And I never said a little junk food now and then was evil. Just that we could all use to eat a little healthier."

"I'm sure they're delicious, Mrs. Tennyson," Julie assured her. "But I wasn't planning on staying too long. Where's Aurora?"

"She's in the living room," she replied. "She fussed awhile after you left, Ben, but she's behaved herself remarkably well. She's an absolute darling."

Ben gave Julie his best "don't even think about it" look. "Don't say a word about how she must not take after me."

"I wasn't going to say a thing," Julie replied, though her eyes sparkled with barely suppressed mirth.

"Right." He stuffed the cookie into his mouth – not bad for technically being health food – and waved Julie into the living room. Let her take a look and then see where things went from there, he supposed. Maybe if Aurora took kindly to her, she'd stick around a little longer. He wasn't sure if Aurora's presence would help patch things up between them – or even if he wanted to restore their relationship at this point – but he'd play it by ear and roll with whatever happened, he supposed. That tactic always seemed to serve him okay, whether in everyday life or his Plumber missions.

His train of thought squealed to an abrupt halt as he walked into the living room. Aurora was parked in front of the TV, faceted eyes fixed on a colorful little-girls show. That wasn't the most absurd part of the scene before him, though – the most absurd part was the beribboned and ruffled dress that she wore, its lavender frills rustling every time she moved, her wings jutting from carefully-cut slits in the back and her antennae poking out of the collar.

" _Dear Princess Celestia,"_ a character onscreen declared. _"Today I learned…"_

 _That it's possible to spit-take an entire cookie,_ Ben concluded in his head.

"Ben, that's disgusting!" Mom shouted in dismay. "You're vacuuming that up, mister."

"Mom!" Ben retorted, throwing his arms up in his own gesture of dismay. "What did you do to Aurora?!"

"What do you mean?" She gazed down at the hatchling, her irritation at the crumb shower giving way to confusion. "She seems happy and healthy enough, and she ate like a horse for lunch…"

"You can't dress a Necrofriggian hatchling up in girl clothes!"

At the sound of his voice Aurora craned her neck around, and her eyes whirled with excitement. " _Abru! Abru!_ " She beat her wings and hovered two feet off the floor, chittering happily, the sudden breeze from her flapping wings making her skirts and ruffles dance in response.

"Hey Aurora," Ben greeted, holding his hands out to her. "Have a good day with Grandma? Don't worry, we'll get you out of these clothes right away."

Aurora grabbed the hem of her skirt and yanked it out of his reach. "No! Dress! Aurora's dress!"

Ben blinked. She knew the word "dress" already? She was picking up on English words faster than he'd expected. That still didn't change the fact that she looked utterly ridiculous in a little girl's frilly dress, though – she was an ice-powered ghost-insect-alien, not some doll for his mom to dress up on her own whims!

"Well, I had to dress her up in SOMETHING," Mom retorted, folding her arms over her chest. "I had errands to run in town, and you couldn't very well expect me to take her into town naked! And besides, she looks adorable like that. I just had to slit the back to make room for her wings."

"Mom, she's a Necrofriggian," Ben shot back. "They go around without clothes all the time. They're not built like humans, it's not like she has inappropriate bits exposed or anything."

"Aw, leave it on her, Ben," Julie urged. "She likes it. It's not hurting her at all."

Aurora touched back down on the floor and hugged herself across the chest, as if holding the dress to her body. "Dress! Aurora's dress. Pretty."

Ben sighed. "Fine… but can we maybe get her some clothes that aren't so girly? Necrofriggians don't even have genders."

Julie gave a sly little smile. "Then it shouldn't matter what kind of clothes she wears, should it? Whether they're T-shirts or dresses or whatever she wants."

Ben opened his mouth to retort, then shut it again. She was right, dangit…

"Oh, and I went ahead and got her some more outfits while I was out and about," Mom went on, pulling a shopping bag out from behind the couch. "They had the most adorable little blouses and skirts! I'll have to alter the tops to fit her, but she'll look so cute in them! And she picked out her own T-shirts – they're mostly _My Little Pony_ but there's at least one Wonder Woman top I think…"

Ben gave a deep sigh. He hadn't exactly planned on having kids for some time, but he'd hoped that when he finally did, they'd take after him in at least a few ways – mainly in being awesome kick-butt heroes. Not cute kids who preferred dresses and cartoons and looking – ugh – pretty.

Julie knelt before Aurora and held out her hands, her pose relaxed but attentive. Aurora tilted her head to one side, then the other, like an inquisitive puppy, before she padded forward and pressed the palms of her hands to the human girl's. Her antennae drooped down to brush over her wrists as if smelling or tasting her, and her eyes whirled with fascination.

"Hi, little one," Julie greeted. "My name is Julie."

"Choo-lee?" Aurora tried.

"Julie. With a 'juh' sound. Julie."

"Ch-ch-choo-lee," Aurora tried, wings quivering with the effort to work her mandibles around the unfamiliar "j" sound. "Ch… ch… j… Joo-lee!"

"Very good!" Julie took her hands in hers and squeezed them lightly. "She's adorable, Ben."

"Everybody keeps saying that," Ben replied with a bit of a groan.

Julie turned to give Ben a raised eyebrow. "You have a problem with her being cute?"

"She's cute," Ben admitted, "but I was hoping a wall-phasing alien daughter would be more awesome than adorable."

"There's nothing saying something can't be awesome AND adorable," Julie pointed out as she got back to her feet, Aurora taking to the air to hover at eye level with her. "Some of your aliens are both. Look at Upchuck – he's cute in a so-ugly-he's adorable kind of way, and he's one of your more versatile aliens. And even Pesky Dust has some frighteningly strong powers."

He had to concede that point. Upchuck, despite being short and awkward, was a surprisingly useful alien, and Pesky Dust had actually played a hand in defeating Khyber and Dr. Psychobos. And he had to keep reminding himself that despite being Necrofriggian and therefore one of his cooler (pun intended) aliens, Aurora was still a hatchling. Perhaps this would just be a phase and she'd grow out of it as she matured.

"You'll just have to show Mommy that you can be both cute AND badass," Julie said with a little laugh.

Ben's eyebrows shot up. Julie, the perfect student, actually used a curse word?

"Badass!" Aurora repeated, fluttering her wings.

Julie gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"I'm actually more shocked that you swore than that Aurora picked it up," Ben replied. "Aurora, don't say that word around Grandma, okay?"

"Badass!" She chittered and covered her mandibles to stifle a giggle, then dropped to the floor and wrapped herself around Ben's leg. " _Abru_ home?"

Okay, when she did that, the cuteness didn't matter so much. He smiled and bent down to pat her head. "Yeah, I'm home, Aurora. And even better, I'm home for the weekend, so we'll get a chance to spend some time together."

Julie nodded. "Well… I won't get in the way of your family time, then."

"Oh, you're welcome to stay!" Ben assured her. "Don't let me chase you off. Besides, Aurora likes you. And maybe she'd get along with Ship! How's he doing, by the way?"

Julie smiled… but there wasn't much joy in it. It was more an expression of resignation than anything. "I appreciate that you're trying, Ben… but I don't think it's going to work out."

"Look, I'm sorry about the phone call, okay? I should have put down the game instead of trying to talk to you at the same time. If you're still mad about that, I get it, but…"

"It's not the phone call," she replied. "It's just… you have your responsibilities, and I have mine. I think it's for the best right now if we just focus on what's most important – school, family, you saving the world, and all that."

Ben sighed. "I could still make room for you."

Julie bit her lip as she considered. "That's sweet of you, but I won't force you to spread yourself too thin. For now, just focus on Aurora, all right? Thank you for letting me visit her, by the way. She's sweet. And I think her being here will be good for both of you." And with that, she turned and walked out.

Aurora peered up at Ben, eyes shining. "Joo-lee?"

Ben sighed and bent down to pick Aurora up. "Don't get attached to her, Aurora. Apparently she's not sticking around." He settled her in his arms. "Whatcha wanna do now that _abru's_ home, though? Want to go outside and play? Or… uh… I guess I could teach you to play _Sumo Slammers…_ or I could go Big Chill and we could fly around the neighborhood together."

She shook her head and pointed insistently at the TV. "Kar-toon! Pony!"

"Um… I think you've watched enough pony today, Aurora. Let's do something else, okay?"

Her wings drooped, and she gave a wavering keen that sounded as if he had just kicked a puppy.

"Awww… Aurora, don't cry, please… all right, fine, one episode. _One._ Then we do something else, okay?"

She chirped, wings perking up. "Pony!"

"Yeah, pony." He flopped down onto the couch and settled her on his lap, then reached for the remote. "If I can remake the universe and face down crazed duplicates of myself, I guess I can stand an episode of talking cartoon horses, right?"

* * *

"Ben, you have company!"

"Tell them to come back later!" Ben called back.

"Ben, I am not your secretary," Mom retorted, walking into the living room and folding her arms with a scowl. "Get out here and talk to him."

"Mom, we're right in the middle of the Season Two opener!" Ben protested. "And this episode ended on a cliffhanger! At least let me finish it!"

"Yeah!" Aurora chimed in, giving an emphatic nod of her head. "Pony!"

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Ben… you know this show is for kids, right?"

"Yeah, but… can't a guy watch a cartoon with his kid?" Ben wasn't about to admit that he'd gotten hooked on a show featuring technicolor cartoon ponies and unicorns, even if said show had plenty of nods to its adult audiences. "And who's here?"

"Your co-worker… Brook, I think?"

"Rook," Ben corrected, and he lifted Aurora from his lap and set her on the floor. "I'm gonna pause it and we'll finish watching when I get back, okay? _Abru_ will make this quick."

"Okay." Aurora nodded and watched Ben stand and walk out of the living room, her wings and antennae twitching curiously.

Rook stood in the Tennyson's kitchen, his proto-tool slung over one shoulder and his gaze wandering curiously over the array of vegetables scattered across the counter where Mom was preparing dinner. He seemed oblivious to Ben's entrance as he picked up a bulb of garlic and peered at it in fascination, slowly peeling away its papery skin. The sight of the young Plumber so enthralled with Earth vegetables nearly made Ben snort with laughter, but he held it back with some effort.

"Hey Rook," he greeted. "Come to hang out? Or just steal the garlic?"

Rook quickly put the bulb down and turned to face Ben. "I am not here to 'hang out,' as you call it, although your mother has invited me to dinner tonight. I cannot tonight, but perhaps sometime in the future."

"Just let me know if you have any dietary restrictions before you do," Mom told him as she returned to dicing peppers. "I want to be prepared if your species is allergic to quinoa or kale or anything."

Ben grimaced. Maybe he'd better warn Rook about Mom's cooking before he committed to dinner anytime soon. "So what's going on? Is there a break in the case?'

Rook shook his head. "Your grandfather and Magister Patelliday questioned the aliens we released at length. All the information they were able to obtain is that their captors wore masks… and that at least one wore a Plumber's badge."

Ben felt as if someone had dropped a rock in his gut. "That's impossible! Plumbers don't sell aliens into slavery!"

"Evidently at least one does," Rook replied balefully. "And remember the Rooters, Ben? Not all Plumbers are honorable, as much as we like to think otherwise."

"So are we gonna hunt down a mole?" Ben asked. "Show someone you don't tarnish the Plumbers' good name?" He grinned a little and smacked his knuckles into his palm. "I owe 'em for putting Aurora in a cage… though if they hadn't caught her I never would have met her, so I guess they did something good there... kinda…"

"The Council is conducting its own internal investigation," Rook replied. "We have been assigned to go back to Baton Rogue and interview the owner of the carnival. He had to have purchased those aliens from somewhere, after all."

Ben deflated a little. "That's not nearly as exciting."

"It is necessary, however," Rook replied. "And we may learn something valuable."

Ben sighed a little but nodded. Playing detective wasn't really his strong point – Gwen was always better at the intellectual side of being a Plumber than he was – but he'd take the assignment. If nothing else, he could play "bad cop" to Rook's "good cop" and maybe scare a little information out of their suspect. And just as he'd said a few minutes ago, he felt he was owed something – from the carney, if from no one else. Someone needed to pay for the terror and humiliation they'd put Aurora through…

"Oh no," he groaned. "Aurora."

Rook frowned, puzzled, then brightened as realization hit. "Your Necrofriggian child, right?"

"Yeah… I promised her daddy-daughter time this weekend. Or mommy-daughter… whatever you want to call it. I can't just run off to Louisiana and break a promise to her!"

"You cannot abandon your responsibilities to the Plumbers either, Ben," Rook countered. "This investigation is very important."

"I know, but…" He growled and buried his fingers in his hair, yanking at handfuls of it in frustration. "This is hard!"

"Welcome to being a parent," Dad muttered from where he sat at the kitchen table, nose buried in the newspaper.

"Be a little compassionate," Mom chided. "And Ben, I know it's hard, really. Parents have to make this kind of decision all the time. But your dad and I will be happy to watch Aurora while you're gone if you want."

"We will?" Dad asked, lowering the paper to give Mom a look of exasperation.

"Honey, you've wanted to be a grandpa, now you get your chance!" Mom countered.

"I wasn't expecting to be a grandpa THIS soon," Dad retorted.

Ben sighed and looked toward the living room, where Aurora was amusing herself by spinning in circles and watching her skirt flare out. This wasn't fair. He didn't want to give up working with the Plumbers, but neither did he want to break his promise to his daughter. Before now he'd been so sure he could juggle school, parenthood, and Plumber duties, but now it was looking like that would be impossible.

Then a wild idea occurred to him, and he spoke up before common sense could kick in and ruin things. "Aurora, c'mere! You're coming with me, okay?"

Aurora stopped spinning and fluttered into the kitchen. "Bye-bye?"

"Yes, go bye-bye!" he replied, grinning widely. "Go bye-bye with _abru!_ "

She squealed in delight and flapped in cheerful circles around Ben and Rook. "Bye-bye! Go bye-bye!"

Rook frowned. "Ben… this mission is not for children."

"Aw, c'mon, it's not like I'm going to take her into the police station," Ben assured him. "She'll just ride in the truck, okay? I'll even bring my phone so she can finish watching pony on it."

"Watching… pony…" Rook pinched the bridge of his nose, and Ben guessed the poor rookie was wishing he were anywhere else, even cleaning bathrooms back at headquarters, than here. "I do not think this is a good idea, Ben."

"I second that," Mom chimed in, looking up from her chopping with a frown. "You're not going to the park, Ben, you're going to a police station! That's not for children! What if she gets hurt?"

"She'll be fine." Ben plucked Aurora out of the air and held her in his arms. "Look, I won't even let her out of the truck. She can stay in there and play games or watch cartoons on my phone. But in the meantime, it'll mean I'm still spending the weekend with her, even watching her show with her like she wanted."

"That sounds pretty fair to me," Dad pointed out.

"You just like it because it means you get out of babysitting duty," Mom muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Dear, our son is taking responsibility for his child," Dad countered. "Who am I to stand in the way of that?"

"Well, that settles it!" Ben announced, and he shifted Aurora to one arm while he snagged his phone with the other. "Let's go, Rook. We've got a long drive to Baton Rouge."

Rook sighed. "I do not like this idea… but I will go along with it. Just do not say I did not warn you."

"Don't worry, I won't."

* * *

"I know what you two are trying to do," Llewelynn chuckled, leaning back in his chair and resting his cuffed hands on his wide belly. "And rest assured that the good cop/bad cop routine won't work on me. I'm not saying a single thing that can incriminate me."

Rook sat in the chair across from the carnival master in a drab, stuffy interrogation room in a Louisiana police station, doing his best to look kindly but serious. Ben lurked off to the side, arms folded over his chest, the crimson skin of his Four-Arms mode standing out in stark contrast to the concrete walls and Llewelynn's blue-gray prison-issue jumpsuit. The room reeked of sweat, not helped by the damp heat that matted Rook's fur Llewelynn's shaggy curls. Ben, despite his best efforts to maintain a stoic, hard-nosed stance and expression, could feel liquid trickling down his spine and arms, making him wish he'd picked an alien that didn't sweat. Even the two officers guarding the door looked a little wilted from the heat.

"Please, Mr. Llewelynn," Rook tried again. "The information you could give us could save innocent lives. And any help you could give us could mean a reduction in your sentence."

The carney gave a laugh that seemed to rise from the depths of his belly. "My dear young cat-man, I admit I done wrong, at least from the law's point of view. But business is business, and if folks can't help but stare at somethin' that they consider freakish, it's only reasonable that someone sets out to make a profit from it, no? And since it ain't politically correct anymore to use humans for the freak shows, substitutions have to be made."

Ben clenched his jaw and leaned forward to loom over Llewelynn. "You callin' us freaks, pal?"

Llewelynn shrugged, unperturbed. "Everyone is a freak in one way or another. Some of us just find ways to capitalize on others' freakishness."

Ben unfolded his bottom set of arms and slammed them down on the table. "I'll show you freak, pal. And if you tell us who sold you the aliens in your caravan, maybe I won't punch that smug look off your face!"

"Ben, stand down," Rook ordered, but without any real anger in his voice. He understood that any outburst on Ben's part was mostly an act, aimed to spook some useful information out of their target. Ben decided it best not to admit, though, that some part of him really wanted to clobber this arrogant bucket of lard for not feeling the least bit sorry for what he'd done.

"Mr. Llewelynn," Rook went on, folding his hands on the table before him, "we honestly do not want to see you unfairly punished. Our goal is not to see you in jail, but to hunt down the one responsible for capturing and selling aliens as slaves. Could you not work with us?"

Llewelynn shrugged his ponderous shoulders again. "You catch one, two more'll spring up in their place. What difference does it make in the end?"

 _This isn't working,_ he thought in frustration. He'd pictured this whole interrogation taking fifteen minutes tops, figuring that the carney would spill his guts at the first whiff of a deal. Instead they had found themselves talking and threatening circles around the guy for almost two hours, wilting from the Louisiana heat all the while. Poor Aurora was probably bored stiff in the truck right now – one could only play mobile games and watch pony for so long, after all. He just hoped she didn't get hungry and start gnawing holes in the doors…

"This discussion is over," Llewelynn told them. "At least until my lawyer gets here."

Ben scowled. "Sure, get your fancy guy in a suit to chase us off, like that's fair."

Rook sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "If he has chosen to seek representation rather than cut a deal, there is nothing further we can do, Ben. We are done here."

"Hey!" Ben protested. "We're not cops, we're Plumbers! We don't have to play by the same rules!" He flashed a grin at the local officers, who just glared back sullenly.

Rook leveled a cool look at him. "True, Plumbers are not under the jurisdiction of local laws… but we will abide by them all the same. We do not want to make enemies of the local police, after all."

"I make enemies all the time in this line of work," Ben retorted. "What's the problem?"

Rook opened his mouth to retort… but shut it as something began to slam against the door of the interrogation room. He snapped his jaw shut and reached over his shoulder, yanking the proto-tool from its holster. The cops followed suit, guns out and trained at the door.

"Speakin' of enemies," Ben growled, cracking two sets of knuckles. "Your goons comin' to bust you out, pal?"

Llewelynn shook his head… and was it Ben's imagination, or was the fat carney finally showing some sign of nervousness, going a shade paler beneath the sheen of sweat? "They found me…. I don't know how, but they found me…"

"Who found you?" Rook demanded, not taking his eyes off the door.

"The slave trader… they know I'm here." He rose from his chair and stumbled backward, eyes bulging and face bleaching whiter with every booming impact against the door. "Don't let 'em get me… don't let HER get me…"

"I oughta let her have you for what you did," Ben growled. "But her, eh? That's a start…"

Rook gave a sharp cry as a blur of blue and black erupted from the steel door, slamming into Ben's broad chest with a soft thump. Two guns and a proto-tool followed the blur, safeties clicking off… until a high-pitched trill made them pause.

" _Abru!"_

"Aurora!" Rook exclaimed.

"Don't shoot!" Ben roared, folding his arms around the hatchling.

Llewelynn's eyes rolled back, and his bulk sagged to the floor in a dead faint.

Rook holstered his proto-tool. "Stand down! The Necrofriggian is with us!"

The cops slowly lowered their hands, not taking their eyes off the hatchling that seemed to be doing her level best to burrow into Ben's chest. Her eyes whirled madly, her breath coming in rapid pants as she tried to calm down and cool herself off. Ben winced at the heat radiating from her soft fur – were Necrofriggians supposed to feel this warm?

"Aurora, are you okay?"

" _Abru_ bye-bye," she whimpered. "Bye-bye long time… no more." She fanned her wings, mandibles gaping open to vent more heat from her body. "Hot… too hot…"

"Aww, sweetie…" He patted her back as gently as his Tetramand form would allow. "It's okay, we're goin' home soon. I shouldn't have left you alone for so long." He frowned. "Where's your dress?"

"That thing wears a dress?" one of the cops muttered, then subsided when Rook turned to glare at him.

"Here it is," the other officer announced, opening the door and picking up the tattered remains of her purple dress. Ben groaned internally, knowing Mom would have a fit that Aurora had ruined her brand-new dress. He wondered why she'd ripped it off in the first place – was it too hot for her? Or was she unable to phase through walls while wearing clothing?

"Come on," Rook murmured, jerking his head toward the door. "We will not get anything else out of Llewelynn now. And we need to take care of your daughter."

Ben nodded and hurried out, not caring that he was still in alien form or that the entire police station was gaping at the sight of a bright red, four-armed and four-eyed alien carrying a baby moth-girl out of the building. Two things were for sure in his mind – he needed to do a LOT more research on Aurora's kind, and he wasn't going to be able to bring her along on his missions anymore. The question was what to do with her next time…


	5. A Little Help

"There you go, little one," the Plumber Base medic cooed, patting Aurora's head. "That feels much better, doesn't it?"

Aurora gave the softest trill, almost a purr, in response. She sank further into the tub of crushed ice until only her eyes and the top of her head were exposed, the multiple facets dimming until they were a deep near-black instead of their usual bright emerald. She looked utterly relaxed, like a cat lounging in a sunbeam or a human soaking in a hot tub.

"Is she going to be okay?" Ben asked.

Doctor Lake nodded. "I'd like to keep her in there for an hour or so just to be sure her temperature's regulated. But she didn't take any hurt from this. Her core temperature was just a little elevated – not enough to be serious, but still enough to be uncomfortable."

Ben hadn't realized just how much tension he had pent up in his muscles until they all seemed to relax at once. The whole way back to Plumber headquarters he'd been frantic with worry, alternating between hugging Aurora protectively to his chest and holding her at arm's length, paranoid that his own body heat would make her fever worse. Rook had kept calm but still driven like a maniac back to the secret entrance to Plumber base, and had watched the doctor's efforts to cool her down with a grave expression.

"I should have realized that Necrofriggian hatchlings would overheat easily," Rook said with a sigh. "They live in deep space until adulthood, and their homeworld is extremely cold."

"But we saw Necrofriggians on that half-fire half-ice planet," Ben pointed out. "I thought they could handle heat."

"They don't develop a resistance to extreme heat until adulthood," Doctor Lake replied. "Until then, it's best to keep her in a cold environment." She plunged a hand into the ice tub and pulled out Aurora's arm, touching a scanner to it. "Her extremities are down to normal. That's a good sign."

Ben sighed and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his hand. His stupidity had gotten his daughter sick with heatstroke… and quite likely could have killed her had she not taken it upon herself to escape. Maybe he really wasn't cut out for this parenthood business, especially on top of everything else.

 _Maybe I should have let Azmuth raise her after all. He certainly knows more about her species. He's not exactly a warm and loving type, but at least she'd be taken care of…_

"Ben." Rook rested a hand on his shoulder, breaking him out of his morose train of thought. "This was an honest mistake. Do not beat yourself up over it."

"You call leaving a kid in a hot truck a mistake, Rook?" Ben retorted, more snappish than he intended. "That kind of thing gets CPS involved on my planet. This just kinda proves I'm hopeless at being a mom or a dad or whatever I am."

"It was an accident," Rook insisted. "And you know better now. You will do just fine from here on out."

"And coming from a parent here, there's no shame in asking for help," Doctor Lake chimed in. "Whether it's parenting advice or more information on her species. In fact, I'd recommend reading up on both things. There are plenty of good parenting books out there, and the Plumber archives have all sorts of information on Necrofriggians."

Ben sighed again. "I dunno… who's to say I won't screw up again?"

"This is not like you," Rook noted with a frown. "You are usually far more confident than this. Even on missions where the fate of the universe was at stake."

"This is different!" Ben retorted. "This is my kid!"

Rook's frown deepened. "And your child is more important than the fate of the universe?"

"Trust me, Rook – parenting can be more fraught with peril than trying to save the universe," Lake told him with a chuckle. "And Ben, every parent is going to make mistakes. The trick is to learn from them and fix them as you go."

Aurora burbled, her head lifting just enough for her mandibles to clear the melting ice. " _Abru?"_

Ben managed a smile, and he took her little hand in his. "Right here, Aurora."

"Go home?"

"Not yet. The doctor's gotta finish her work. Then we'll take you home."

Doctor Lake patted Aurora's head one more time, then turned to Ben and Rook. "I'm going to leave her for a few minutes to take care of another patient. Could you stay with her and ensure she doesn't wiggle too much or try to leave the ice bath?"

"Can do, Doctor."

She nodded her thanks and moved two tables down, where a young Chimera Sui Generis woman in a Plumber uniform sat waiting. Doctor Lake knelt to examine the Plumber cadet's leg, exchanging a few remarks that were just a little too soft for Ben to make out.

" _Abru,_ " Aurora cooed, nuzzling up to his hand.

Ben rubbed the top of her head. "Phew… sorry for freaking out there, Rook."

"No apologies are necessary," Rook assured him. "But while we are here, we might as well make use of the information we received from Llewelynn."

"All we've got to go on is that the slaver's female," Ben pointed out. "That means a good third to half of the Plumbers are suspects."

"We can still search his carnival and find clues," Rook replied. "The wagons and exhibition cages should still be in impound. And we can trace the path he took on his rounds, and see if he left anything behind."

Ben groaned. He stank at detective work. He would much rather swoop in and start punching things to save the day, not dust for fingerprints or research alibis or whatever it was detectives did to solve crimes. Gwen was a lot better at this… but she'd given up Plumber duties for the most part to focus on college, and was unavailable to help too much in this case.

Come to think of it… Gwen was female, and a Plumber. Didn't that technically make her a suspect? True, she had absolutely no motive to get involved in slavery and he wanted to think his own cousin wouldn't sink to those depths… but still, wasn't it always the ones you least suspected?

He looked up at Doctor Lake and her patient, eyes narrowing. Lake looked innocuous enough – a pretty brunette woman with bright green eyes and a friendly oval face, always on the verge of a smile and open and warm with all her charges. But that warmth could very well be an act, a front she used to lure in unsuspecting aliens and spirit them off to some dreadful fate for her own profit. Maybe she was just softening poor Alyxx, the Chimera Sui Generis cadet, so she could gain her trust, only to sell her off to some circus as Cthulhu-Girl or something…

Come to think of it, about Alyxx… she'd only just graduated from the Plumber Academy, and Ben had only met her in passing. From all accounts she seemed to be a normal young Plumber, shy and unsure but still eager to prove herself. But maybe she was some kind of mole or sleeper agent, planted within the Plumber ranks to give the slavers better access to a wider variety of aliens for their illicit business. Not to mention she reminded Ben far too much of Vilgax for his liking…

Rook poked him in the back. "Ben, you are staring."

Ben shook his head. "Sorry. Just thinking." He gave Aurora's hand a light squeeze. "So much to do… not only this case, but I still need to read up some more on Necrofriggians. I want to take better care of her. I don't want this to happen again."

Rook nodded slowly. "I may know someone who can help with that."

"Really? You knew an expert on Necrofriggians all this time? You've been holding out on me, Rook, don't do that."

His partner gave a little smile of amusement. "You never asked."

"Ha ha." Ben bumped his shoulder with his knuckles. "I'm asking now. Who do you know that can help with Aurora? Some kind of xeno-scientist or alien anthropologist?"

"Not precisely… but perhaps I can explain better when we have actually met them. Let us just say that I think they will be best for the job. Once the doctor clears Aurora to go, I will see if they are available to talk to."

"Good plan." Ben just hoped that, whoever this scientist or anthropologist was, they'd be willing to help him with this whole raising-a-baby-alien business.

* * *

Rook's information source turned out to be neither scientist nor anthropologist – just another Plumber. But Ben saw right away why Rook considered them the best option.

"I didn't know we actually had Necrofriggian Plumbers," Ben whispered as he and Rook waited outside the training room, where several cadets – two of whom were familiar to Ben – were sparring with an instructor.

"Why would we not?" Rook inquired with a raised eyebrow. "Few alien species are turned away should they wish to join."

"Yeah, but still, this is the first one I've seen." He watched a cadet go flying across the room at a blow from the Necrofriggian's fist. "Dang, he's good!"

"They," Rook corrected. "When addressing a Necrofriggian, one always uses gender-neutral pronouns unless they say otherwise."

"Oh." He hadn't realized that – it wasn't as if there were too many gender-neutral beings on Earth. Well, in his mind it was too late to start thinking of Aurora as a "they" anyhow. Besides, "she" just seemed to fit her, what with her high voice and her preference for frilly dresses.

The Necrofriggian Plumber's shoulder-antennae pricked up as Manny charged them from behind, all four fists raised and a battle roar booming from his massive chest. Their mandibles twitched, almost forming a smile as their body rippled and went hazy for a moment… and the Tetramand amalgam barreled right through him, nearly running over Helen before slamming into the wall. He staggered back, dazed, as his instructor went solid again.

"A move like that will get you killed," they informed Manny, their voice a melodic blend of a hiss and a purr. "Having multiple limbs does not excuse a lack of a brain."

Manny grumbled and rubbed his head with his upper set of arms while folding the lower set across his chest in indignation. "Not like we're gonna be fightin' a lot of enemies who can cheat like you."

"Manny!" Helen snapped. "Have a little respect for Instructor Glace!"

"All it takes is one cheating enemy to end your life, boy." The Necrofriggian – Glace – puffed a cloud of frost in what might have been a sigh or a chuckle. "We're done for the day. You're dismissed."

Manny grumbled again and stalked off. Helen paused to wave at Ben before following him, and Ben waved back at the half-Kineceleran. The Amalgam Kids weren't half-bad, he thought… at least when they weren't brainwashed and trying to kill him.

Glace exhaled another burst of frost before turning to regard Ben and Rook. "Can I help you?"

"I sure hope so." Ben extended a hand. "Ben Tennyson, hero and wielder of the Omnitrix."

Rook gave a slight roll of his eyes in response to the title.

"Yes… your reputation precedes you, Tennyson." Glace took Ben's hand in their own, their claws pricking his skin. From a distance the Necrofriggian hadn't looked terribly different from Ben's Big Chill form save that they wore a Plumber's uniform beneath their folded wings, but up close he could pick out subtle differences. Glace was slightly stockier, thicker in limb and wider in the shoulders, though the extra weight appeared to be muscle rather than fat. Their coloring was different as well, the blue a touch deeper and the black closer to a very dark purple than a true black. And their green optics held a touch of amber at their hearts, like emeralds reflecting firelight. They held their wings folded about their shoulders and head like a hooded cloak, exposing only the legs of their white Plumber uniform.

"I was just telling Ben about you, Instructor Glace," Rook explained. "Ben, Instructor Glace teaches hand-to-hand combat to the new Plumber cadets. They are also one of the few Necrofriggians among the Plumbers, so perhaps they can help you with your current problem."

"Problem?" repeated Glace, tilting their head at a quizzical angle. "An issue with your Necrofriggian form, I assume. What ails you?"

"Well… it's not a problem with my form exactly. I, uh… I sorta had kids while in my Big Chill form, and…"

"I'm not certain how one can 'sort of' have children," Glace interrupted dryly. "You either had them or you didn't." Their eyes gleamed in interest, however. "I assume one or more of these children has returned to you? It is not common among our people, but it happens."

"Yeah, Azmuth said something about it being genetic. But anyhow… I was hoping you might be able to tell me how to take care of her. I mean, I've never been a parent before and I really don't want to screw up with her-"

"Her?" Necrofriggian faces weren't capable of the myriad expressions that humans were, but Ben was sure he saw a frown on those mandibles. "It is not appropriate to refer to one of our hatchlings as male or female. Some show a preference for a gender-specific pronoun as they mature, but until they choose for themselves-"

"Can we please not have the Tumblr argument right now?" Ben demanded. "She's perfectly fine with being called a girl even if she isn't really one. I just want to know how best to take care of her. I really don't want to feed her something toxic by accident or otherwise do something that'll hurt her."

Glace regarded Ben for a long moment, compound eyes glittering like jewels the entire time. He fought the urge to fidget under that stare, and was just starting to lose the battle when Glace finally nodded.

"Very well… I will educate you. Where is the child?"

"In the medical center with Doctor Lake," Rook volunteered, and Ben had to resist the urge to slap a hand over his partner's mouth. Admitting that he'd landed Aurora in the hospital within the first couple days of taking her in was not going to win him any points.

"I see." Glace gave Ben another long stare. "Then take me to her. I'd like to get a good look at her." And they swept out of the training room.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ben hissed as he and Rook followed Glace down the corridor.

"I would not have suggested it if I did not think it was a good idea," Rook insisted. "You wished to learn more about Necrofriggians – what better source than one of their own kind?"

"Yeah, but I keep getting the feeling that he – that _they_ – think I stink at taking care of her already," he retorted. "Like every time they look at me they're quietly judging me."

"Perhaps they are, but that simply means they can educate you in the areas you are lacking."

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be on my side, Rook!"

"I can hear you two, you know," Glace informed them, their tone oddly devoid of emotion.

They entered a medical bay in chaos. Chunks of ice littered the wet floor, and medical equipment lay scattered from one end of the room to the other. Doctor Lake stood on an examination table and was making frantic grabs at a billowing white form that darted in circles near the ceiling – a white form that at first glance looked like a cartoon ghost but turned out to be a long white doctor's coat. Allyxx watched from her seat on another exam table, scarlet eyes wide but mouth twisted with the effort of holding back a laugh.

"Ben!" Doctor Lake shrieked. "Ben, help me get her down!"

"Dress!" the flying coat chirped. "Want dress! Clothes!"

Glace watched the garment swoop about the room in crazy laps, then turned to Ben and arched an eye ridge.

"Don't look at me, her grandma got her interested in playing dress-up," Ben retorted.

The coat halted in midair, then opened to reveal Aurora's face within its chest. " _Abru!"_

"Yes, it's _Abru,_ Aurora. Get down here!"

Aurora trilled in delight and dove, impacting against Ben's chest with a thump. There wasn't a whole lot of force behind her dive and she wasn't particularly heavy, but he still gave an _oof_ at the impact.

" _Abru,_ dress!" she chirped, pulling the coat more snugly around her.

"Yes, you like dresses," Ben groaned. "But this dress belongs to the doctor. Can you give it back to her? We'll get you a new dress when we get home."

Aurora whined but wriggled out of the coat anyhow, letting it crumple in a heap on the floor.

"So this is the child?" Glace inquired.

Ben didn't think they had to sound so doubtful, especially since it wasn't as if there were many other Necrofriggian hatchlings flitting about at the moment. "This is Aurora. Aurora, this is Glace. He- I mean they are gonna help us, okay?"

Aurora fixed Glace with a long look, peridot eyes whirling in fascination. Then she buried her head in Ben's chest, cooing softly.

"That's funny, she's never been this shy with anyone," Ben noted. "Hey Aurora, it's okay. Glace's a friend!"

Aurora wriggled, peering at Glace with one glittering compound eye.

"Hmmmm." The Plumber tapped their mandibles with a claw as they watched the hatchling. "The child has been in the company of humans long enough that she is reluctant to approach her own kind. This won't do. I recommend that you stay in your Necrofriggian form around her as much as possible to get her accustomed."

"The Omnitrix times out after fifteen minutes or so," Ben informed him, rubbing lightly at Aurora's back to soothe her. "And it doesn't always do what I want it to. Half the time I ask for one form and it gives me something else entirely. I can usually find a way to make it work, though."

"Perhaps the First Thinker can remedy that for you," Glace countered. "She needs to get used to her own kind, and properly learn her abilities. Has she phased or used her breath attack at all?"

"She can phase most of the time," Ben replied. "Not while she's wearing clothes, though. And I haven't seen her breathe ice at all."

Glace nodded. "Only specially designed fabrics will shift along with us when we go incorporeal." They tapped their chest as if to indicate their uniform, though most of it remained hidden under their wings. "She may grow out of this 'clothes' phase once she sees how it hampers her abilities. As for the ice… it will come with time. In the meantime… I suggest you bring her to me a few times a week. I can help you teach her about growing up to be a proper Necrofriggian."

It was as if an iron fist gripping Ben's insides had finally released him, and he gave a faint laugh of relief. "Thank you, Glace. When's a good time to bring her by?"

"I've another class in a few minutes… but tomorrow afternoon, perhaps? In the meantime, I would see Azmuth about adjusting your Omnitrix to allow a more long-term shift. Your child needs that contact with her own kind, or she will forget her heritage."

"I will make sure he arranges it," Rook promised.

Glace nodded. "I will see you and Aurora tomorrow, then." And he turned and walked out of the medical bay.

Ben made a face after the departing Necrofriggian. "Yeesh, what's their problem?"

"They have an excellent point," Rook told him. "It would be best for your hatchling if she grew up around another of her kind. I know you mean well, but she is not human."

"I'm a human and I laid her egg, Rook!" Ben reminded him.

Allyxx uttered a choked sound that might have been a snort of laughter or a gag of disgust.

"Okay, that came out really wrong," Ben admitted. "But still, she might be a Necrofriggian, but she's technically part human too. What's wrong with her being raised by them?"

"Ben… I know you care about her," Rook pressed. "But you have to think about what is best for her, too. She deserves to know about her human heritage… but she also deserves to learn the Necrofriggian side of her as well. Glace will help with that. I promise."

Ben sighed deeply. "All right… I'll talk to Azmuth about it. Figures it'd take popping out a kid to get him to finally fix the thing, huh?"

Aurora peered up at him. _"Abru?"_

"Yeah, sweetie, we're going home," Ben assured her. "If the doctor says it's okay."

"She's clear to go," Doctor Lake assured him. "It'd be best for her to avoid warm places for the time being, until she's better able to regulate her own body temperatures."

Allyxx spoke up for the first time since they'd arrived at the medical center. "Before you go… can I see her?"

Ben hesitated, hugging Aurora tighter to his chest. His earlier suspicions, a simple flight of fancy at the time, suddenly weighed heavily in his gut. He barely knew this cadet, and the fact that she reminded him all too much of Vilgax didn't help…

Aurora chirped, and she phased right through Ben's arms and fluttered over to the Chimera Sui Generis girl. The cadet's ruby eyes widened, and she raised her hands and let Aurora press her palms to them.

"She's adorable," Allyxx murmured. "She reminds me of my younger sister… I know she's a different species, but still, she's about the same size…"

Despite his suspicions, Ben had to smile at that. "What's your sister's name? Think she'll follow in your footsteps and become a Plumber too?"

The smile faded from Allyxx's face. "Her name's Xenia… but… she's been missing for months now."

The fist gripped his stomach again. _The slavers…_ Allyxx couldn't be their suspect. If she was working with the alien slavers, why would she allow them to take her own sister? Unless she'd just made up the sister story to throw them off the track, or even worse, didn't really care about her sister and was heartless enough to sell her off… But no, she looked too heartbroken for that to be the case. Then again, she could just be a good actress…

 _Stop it,_ he scolded himself. _You're being way too suspicious._ Another reason he hated playing detective – it somehow made everyone's behavior suspect in his mind. If this kept up he'd turn paranoid in short order.

"We will find your sister, Allyxx," Rook vowed. "And we will bring whoever took her to justice. I swear it."

"Me too," Ben added. "Whoever did this is going to pay. And we'll make sure Xenia's safe."

Chimera Sui Generis didn't weep like humans did, but her facial tentacles shivered with emotion. "Th-thank you, Tennyson… and Rook…" She hugged Aurora close, until the hatchling peeped and phased out of her embrace.

"Perhaps we should not have made that promise too soon," Rook murmured as they left the medical center, Aurora fluttering behind Ben like an oversized butterfly. "We cannot guarantee that we can find any of the aliens captured by the slavers, even if we capture whoever is in charge. Her sister could be anywhere in the galaxy by now."

"We have to try," Ben insisted. "What if it was your sister, Rook? Wouldn't you go to the ends of the galaxy to save her?"

"No."

Ben whipped his head around to glare at him. "What the heck, Rook?!"

"I would not go to the ends of the galaxy." His eyes flashed. "I would go to the ends of the universe and beyond." He flashed Ben a rueful smile. "Point taken, Ben. I only hope we can fulfill that promise… especially with everything else you have to deal with."

"Right." Ben reached back and took Aurora's hand as they headed for the elevator that would take them back to Bellwood proper. Between hunting down an alien slave ring and educating himself on how to take care of an alien child, his plate was pretty full these days. Maybe his parents could be convinced to let him graduate a year or two late…


	6. Nighttime Flight

Aurora found Glace utterly fascinating. They smelled familiar, but not quite in the same way _Abru_ did – the sense of sameness was there, the sense that this creature was a part of her like _Abru_ was, yet it was completely different from _Abru._ And after so long in the company of the soft-skinned, wingless humans, being around another of her own kind was thrilling, almost terrifying. They might look nearly the same, but she was far more familiar with humankind, and the presence of another Necrofriggian so close made her insides squirm with excitement and anxiety.

That didn't stop her from being irritated by how bossy he was, though.

" _Hold still, little one,"_ Glace urged, resting their clawed hands on her shoulders _. "We have much to cover today. You'll listen better if you have patience and keep still."_

" _Okay."_ Despite being separated from her own kind for so long, the Necrofriggian language still came easily to her mouthparts. Though she was still determined to learn to speak human-talk – English, _Abru_ had called it.

" _Very well. Let us begin."_

Glace had taken Aurora and _Abru_ to an empty conference room in the Plumber Base, with an older human and a small gray alien that she recognized from her first day here. The other human, whom her _abru_ called Max, had assured her that she wasn't in trouble and was only here to learn more about her own species and how to better manage her abilities. She had nodded dutifully bit still felt baffled about the whole thing. She was already a perfectly good Necrofriggian, wasn't she? It wasn't as if she were flawed, right?

 _Abru_ piped up from close by, and though Aurora only caught a couple of the words, she could pick up the unhappiness in his voice. Something about their actions displeased him, and she wished she knew what it had been so she could correct it. Another reason to learn his language as fast as she could…

" _He says that he wishes we didn't chatter like this,"_ Glace translated. _"He says he feels like he's missing out on something important."_

" _He doesn't speak our language,"_ she informed them. _"I don't think a lot of humans do."_

Glace frowned slightly. _"If he is serious about raising you, he should learn. And fast. For being the bearer of the Omnitrix, he is remarkably ignorant about other races."_

" _You're telling me."_ That was the gray alien – Azmuth, if she recalled right. _"I keep telling him he needs to educate himself about the aliens coded into his Omnitrix. But he continues to wallow in ignorance, treating the Omnitrix like a toy and refusing to broaden his horizons."_

Aurora whirled to face Azmuth, wings quivering with indignation. _"Don't talk about_ Abru _that way! He's wonderful!"_

Azmuth snorted. _"You're opinion of him is more than a little biased, young one…"_

Max opened his mouth, and Aurora nearly fell over in shock as her own language emerged from his mouth, albeit thick with an accent that made it hard to understand.

" _As I keep reminding you, Azmuth, Ben IS still a teenager. He's still trying to learn how to function among his own race's culture, let alone dozens of others. And it's a little hypocritical of the Plumbers to criticize him for using the Omnitrix as a weapon when the Plumbers are the ones relying on said Omnitrix as a weapon."_

Aurora didn't understand parts of that despite it being in her language, but she did understand that this Max was coming to _Abru's_ defense. She fluttered her wings in delight, deciding then and there that she liked Max very much. And while his words didn't seem to chasten Azmuth – the Galvan looked more annoyed than abashed at his words – Glace at least had the grace to nod in apology and murmur a few words in English to _Abru. Abru_ replied back, a grateful smile on his face, and Max chimed in with a sentence or two of his own before Glace spoke to Aurora again.

" _I told your_ Abru _I was sorry for the hasty judgment. Max has suggested that from here on out, lessons take place in both Necrofriggian and English. That way your_ Abru _may learn our language faster, and you his."_

Aurora fluttered her wings at that, unable to suppress a coo of delight. _"That sounds great! I'll learn fast, I promise!"_

Glace looked long and hard at her, then nodded. _"Very well. We'll start by seeing how well you phase. Pass your hand through the table for me, if you will."_

Aurora waited while Glace repeated the order in English, doing her best to commit the strange sounds to memory. Then she turned to the conference table and pressed her hand to the cool plastic. It always took a moment for her to focus on the process, willing the very atoms of her body to rearrange themselves until they were far enough apart to make her insubstantial… but after a few seconds, her hand dropped through the solid table.

" _How was that?"_

" _Very good for your age. A little delay in phasing is normal for one so young. As you get older and gain more experience, you'll be able to make the adjustment faster and phase instantly."_

She huffed, antennae wilting until they dropped over the winged unicorn emblazoned on her T-shirt. Why couldn't Glace just say "good job" instead of criticizing her?

" _I would like you to try a full-body phase now."_ They gestured toward an upright panel set up close by. _"For this, you may need to remove your clothing."_

Aurora stared down at today's ensemble – a T-shirt emblazoned with her favorite pony, Twilight Sparkle, and a pair of jeans with sequins sewn onto the pockets and flowers embroidered up the legs. It was one of the many outfits _Gran'mah_ had bought her, and her absolute favorite. It annoyed _Abru_ for some reason, but then, a lot of things annoyed him. It didn't make her love him any less.

" _I don't want to,"_ she insisted, folding her arms over her chest. _"I picked this out special for today. I don't want to take it off."_ She didn't add that she had worn what she saw as her best outfit to impress them.

" _Your clothing will only interfere with your ability to phase,"_ Glace insisted. _"That is why our kind traditionally don't wear garments, save certain ceremonial pieces."_

" _But YOU'RE wearing a Plumber uniform!"_

" _Yes."_ They looked down at their chest, unfolding their wings briefly to reveal the white Plumber armor. _"But my uniform is of special material that will phase along with me. I highly doubt your human-made clothing was made with that in mind. You'll need to remove your garments before we proceed."_

" _I. Don't. Want to!"_ She stamped her foot and huffed… and squeaked in surprise as a light cloud of frost issued from her mouthparts. It was only the slightest puff of vapor, but it was enough to make her wings quiver in delight.

" _I did it!"_

 _Abru_ whooped and clapped his hands, and Max smiled widely. Even Glace seemed pleased, their amber-green eyes glittering with satisfaction. Azmuth looked unmoved, but then, she was starting to think that "grumpy-pants" was his only expression.

" _Very good,"_ Glace noted. _"We will work more on your ice weapon later, however. For now, you need to follow instructions."_

She looked over to _Abru_ and whimpered pitifully, antennae drooping and wings wilting. She really didn't want to get undressed, not when she liked her outfit so much. And while _Abru_ didn't usually like the same clothes she and _Gran'mah_ liked, surely he'd side with her on this. Especially when she used her saddest expression on him – he hadn't been able to resist it thus far.

 _Abru's_ face softened, and he said a few words that sounded laden with sympathy… but she caught the "sorry" amidst his words, and knew what he'd said even before Glace translated.

" _He apologizes, but says that it's necessary. You do not wish to ruin another outfit, do you?"_

She huffed again, releasing a fine mist of ice particles, but grudgingly admitted that _Abru_ and Glace were right. She'd ripped up the pretty violet dress she'd loved so much trying to get to her _abru_ back at the hot place, and she still regretted it. She didn't want to do the same to her favorite shirt and pants. Perhaps if she asked nicely, the Plumbers here could see about making her some attractive outfits that could phase along with her.

For now, though, she wriggled out of her clothes, tossing them over the nearest chair. She fixed Glace with a glare to show him she only did this out of greatest duress.

" _Thank you for finally following instructions,"_ Glace replied, unperturbed by her glower. _"Now phase through the panel. Focus. You need to be able to do it quickly, on the first try and without delay."_

" _Remember, Glace, she's still just a child,"_ Max pointed out. _"It's going to take her some time to be able to do this perfectly."_

" _That does not excuse her from striving to try her best,"_ Glace retorted.

Aurora faced the panel, braced herself, and took a few steps toward it, focusing with all her might on the necessary shift. She thought she had it… and so couldn't suppress a shriek of surprise when she bounced right off the panel.

 _Abru_ burst out laughing. Both Glace and Max snapped at him, and he muttered something that sounded slightly apologetic but kept laughing. Aurora, for her part, was torn between embarrassment and laughter of her own – she wasn't hurt, and it WAS kind of funny.

" _Try again,"_ Glace ordered.

She nodded, and this time she shuffled forward slowly, hands extended before her. Shift… shift… shift…

This time it went smoothly – she passed through the panel as if it were a bank of fog. _Abru_ applauded, and Glace gave a satisfied nod.

" _Very good. Try it again. Faster this time."_

Aurora had never imagined that her ability to phase through solid objects could get boring… but after two hours of passing back and forth through the panel, with Glace critiquing how long it took her each time, she was thoroughly ready to call it quits. _Abru_ evidently thought the same – he'd yawned so many times during this lesson it was a wonder his jaw hadn't stuck open. Max, too, yawned and looked ready to fall asleep standing up. Azmuth looked as attentive as ever, and though he hadn't spoken since the language argument earlier he seemed to be evaluating Aurora's performance as well, taking his own mental notes for later.

" _That will be enough for today,"_ Glace said at last. _"I'll tell Tennyson to bring you back twice a week from now on for further teaching in our ways."_

Aurora snatched her clothes and dressed, suppressing a whine at the thought of further lessons. Twice a week of this! Couldn't _Abru_ teach her? Sure, he was a human, but he could still show her how to phase and breathe ice, right? Anything else really didn't matter – she might be a Necrofriggian, but her family was human, and she was perfectly happy learning their ways.

" _Your_ abru _might be human,"_ Glace told her, as if reading her thoughts, _"but it's important for you to understand your heritage. You come from an ancient and wonderful race – it would be tragic for you to live in ignorance of that."_

She shrugged, working her wings through the slits _Gran'mah_ had cut in the back of her shirt. She supposed he had a point. But it wasn't as if she'd be visiting the Necrofriggian homeworld anytime soon, right? Or seeing any of her siblings – surely they would have found _Abru_ by now if they were looking.

A clawed hand rested on her shoulder, and she lifted her face to look into Glace's glittering eyes. Their expression had softened a little – not a great degree, but there was a warmth to their eyes and a gentleness to the set of their mandibles that hadn't been there before.

" _You're doing well for one so young,"_ they chirred. _"You are a fine young ice-let, and I hope your_ abru _knows how lucky he is to have you. I only wish to see you grow to your full potential."_

She nodded, and found her resentment toward Glace easing just a touch. Perhaps they weren't so bad after all. Still a little boring and bossy, but it sounded as if they had good intentions…

She eeped in surprise as _Abru_ picked her up, and nestled against his shoulder as he carried her out of the room. Glace watched them go, and raised one clawed hand in a wave goodbye. She couldn't say that she was looking forward to seeing them again… but she looked toward their next lesson with a little less dread. That was something, she figured.

* * *

"…and I swear the entire time he was just glaring at me! Judging me as if I were the world's biggest failure! Just because I just happen to be a human raising an alien daughter!"

"'They,' not 'he,'" Rook corrected, not taking his eyes off the road as he responded to Ben's rant. "And while I understand it is frustrating, I can also understand where they might be coming from. Most experts agree that children are better off being raised by members of their own species."

"She's Necrofriggian, yeah, but she's also part human," Ben insisted. "That's gotta count for something, right?"

Rook didn't reply right away, focusing on navigating the Proto-TRUK through Bellwood's evening traffic. The visit to Plumber Base for Aurora's lesson had ended up taking most of the day – not just for the visit to Glace, but to give Rook an opportunity to go through the Plumber database for clues. Plumber High Command were quite adamant that there was no possibility of a traitor amid their ranks, but Max and Magister Patteliday were equally adamant that the investigation be conducted regardless – and needed only to bring up Servantis and his Rooters to get them to grudgingly give their permission.

Ben wasn't sure which would have been more boring – sitting through Glace's repetitive lesson or browsing the database for any female Plumbers with a shady past. At least whatever lead Rook had uncovered had gotten them out of the base, he supposed.

"So what'd you find?" Ben asked. "Is our mole here in Bellwood?"

Rook shook his head. "We are going out to the old quarry."

"Ah… I should have thought of that. That place is full of hidey-holes. Perfect place for a slaver to hide his operations. Though shouldn't we be heading for my house? We should drop Aurora off before going to kick their butts."

Aurora, buckled into a booster seat in the back seat of the TRUK, looked up from where she was engrossed in a game with her pony toys. "Kick butts!"

"You're not old enough to kick butts," Ben laughed. "But someday, okay?"

Rook shook his head. "Our lead is elsewhere, Ben. But I am taking you to the old quarry regardless."

"What?" Ben turned to glare at Rook. "You're not gonna hog all the hero action, Rook. Just because I'm a parent now…"

"What I intend to do is serious investigation work," Rook replied. "It will not be the 'hero action' I know you are accustomed to. So I judged it best to cover it myself… and in the meantime, give you a chance to be a parent."

"What do you mean?"

Rook turned onto a worn, pothole-riddled road that snaked away from city limits, toward a ragged-looking collection of hills. "Glace is right about one thing. Aurora may be living among humans, but she deserves to learn a little more about her own species. She deserves to grow up with both sides of her heritage, not just one or the other."

Ben frowned. "What's this got to do with the quarry?"

Rook smiled. "It is out of the way of prying eyes… and has plenty of open space for a flight."

Before Ben could question further, the TRUK crested a rise, bringing the old quarry into view. Once lively with trucks and machinery carving out and hauling stone for the various construction and landscaping projects of Bellwood, it now sat empty, a wide pit dotted with gravel and rock piles. A single rusting excavator stood vigil over the quarry, hunched over itself like a sleeping dragon, and swaths of brightly colored graffiti marked the rock walls, courtesy of some of Bellwood High's more rebellious students.

"Cheerful place," Ben noted.

Rook pulled the TRUK up to the lip of the quarry and killed the engine. "I thought that you and Aurora could go for a flight here. Spend a little time doing something a Necrofriggian would do for fun, not just a human."

"They just fly for fun? That seems kinda boring."

"Not just flying – aerial acrobatics. It is a large part of their culture – fancy flying is used for special ceremonies, courtship rituals, and holidays and celebrations of all kinds. Some even combine their natural ice-breathing abilities with flight to create amazing, if temporary, works of art. Sky-painting, they call it."

"How do you know so much about Necrofriggians? Seriously, am I the only one who's clueless about them or something?"

Rook shrugged. "I have done some study of various races during my training." He motioned toward the abandoned quarry through the windshield. "Go. Have a father-daughter moment. I will call you if the lead I am pursuing pans out."

Ben unbuckled Aurora from her booster seat and scooped her up, then climbed out of the vehicle. As Rook backed the Proto-TRUK up and drove off, he set the hatchling down and pulled his sleeve back to reveal the Omnitrix.

" _Abru?"_ Aurora chirped. "We… we're flying?"

Ben couldn't help a smile at that. "Yeah, sweetie, we're flying. Just give me a moment to change, all right?" He twisted the dial until the hologram of Big Chill materialized, then slapped his hand down on it.

Aurora's eyes lit up at the sight of his alien form, and she dashed forward to wrap her arms around his legs. _"Abru!"_

Ben chuckled, feeling his mandibles twist into something like a smile as he patted Aurora's head. Despite Azmuth's assurances that he'd fixed the Omnitrix, at least for this particular form, some part of him had expected to request the Big Chill form and be left with Clockwork or Brainstorm or something else completely unsuited for flight. Odd – he'd been asking for Azmuth to correct those bugs for years, and yet he'd blown Ben off every time until this latest request.

 _Maybe because you're not asking for yourself,_ he thought, _but for Aurora. Maybe the old guy's got a heart in there after all._

"Fly!" Aurora tugged him toward the edge of the quarry wall, her wings vibrating in anticipation. "Go fly, _Abru!_ Want to fly!"

"Okay, okay, sweetie," Ben laughed, and he spread his wings, letting the cool night air catch and lift them. "Stay close to me, all right?"

"Okay." She hopped into the air, fluttering at his side. He gave his wings an experimental flap, then leaped, letting the wind catch and carry him forward. Aurora trailed after him, chirping with glee.

At first Ben was content to merely fly in lazy circles over the quarry, letting Aurora flit in eager circles and loops around him. Despite the Omnitrix giving him several forms capable of flight, he never thought of that ability as anything more than a tool to reach his destination quickly or access something he couldn't through other means. It wasn't as if he had a phobia of flying, but that he didn't see why it was a big deal. It was just another means of moving from one place to another – after all, one didn't get excited about walking around.

But watching Aurora dart and dip through the air like a manic hummingbird, chittering and squealing with delight, was enough to make him think otherwise. She took to the air as if it were some sort of invisible jungle gym, swooping and twisting in acrobatic moves that would have put the Air Force Thunderbirds to shame. Her emerald eyes glittered with sheer enjoyment, a joy that Ben found to be infectious.

With a tilt of his wings, Ben soared higher. The feel of the wind over his wings and lean body was intoxicating, and he couldn't help an exultant laugh of his own. He pulled up, up, up… then arced over in a backwards loop, earning a squeal of delight from Aurora.

"Again!" she demanded, clapping her hands. "Again!"

Ben grinned and grabbed Aurora under the arms, and he held her to his chest as he executed another loop. She squealed again, arms and wings spread, eyes so bright they glowed like green lamps.

"You liked that, Aurora?"

"Again!"

"I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled, and released his hold on her. "Race you, okay? To the excavator and back?"

She gave an inquiring chirrup.

"Ah… sorry. I forget you're still learning English." He pointed to the rusting machine. "Go there. Fast. Get there first."

Aurora's eyes glittered, and she giggled and nodded. Evidently she'd gotten the gist of it.

"One… two… three… GO!"

She darted ahead in a blur of wings. With a few powerful strokes of his own wings Ben soon caught up with her, and even surged ahead briefly… but just a few wingbeats from the finish line he pulled back, letting her take the lead.

"And Aurora wins!" he crowed as she touched down on the digging arm of the excavator.

"Wins!" she repeated, thrusting her arms into the air. "Aurora win!"

Ben laughed and scooped her up in his arms in a tight hug. "Good job, sweetie. I knew there was no way you couldn't be awesome with me as your mom."

"Awesome!" she repeated, and pushed at his chest. "Fly more!"

"Okay, okay." He released her with a chuckle. "A little more…"

Aurora shot off, squealing happily as she flew dizzy circles over the quarry. Ben followed, his flight slower and more relaxed as he watched her aerial play. Had he been this rambunctious and full of energy as a child? He'd have to ask his parents about that.

For now, though, he wanted to enjoy this moment. Raising Aurora and juggling all his other responsibilities was proving to be harder than he'd expected… but right now he wouldn't trade it for the world.

* * *

"Ben?"

Ben looked up from his computer. "Come in, Mom. Be careful, Aurora's sleeping."

The door opened just enough for Mom to slip through. She shut the door behind her and made her way through the piles of dirty clothes and action figures on the floor to his desk, setting a plate down beside his keyboard.

"You missed dinner, so I microwaved some pizza for you," she explained.

"Thanks, Mom." He finished typing out a sentence on his English essay before turning his attention to the food. It was a vegetarian pizza with gluten-free crust, but right now he was too hungry to care about whether he was being fed health food or not. Besides, pizza was one of the hardest foods to mess up in his mind. Well, that and chili fries…

"You were out pretty late," she noted. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah… Aurora and I went out for a flight. It was fun, but we're both pretty beat. I've still got homework to finish up before I crash for the night, though."

Mom's gaze moved to the bed, where Aurora was curled up in a makeshift nest of blankets and bedsheets. Her wings were wrapped around her in a velvety cocoon, her head tucked down in their folds and a soft purring snore rising from her with every breath. Her pony toys had been arranged in a ring around her, like colorful sentries standing guard over their sleeping queen.

"Awww, she's adorable," Mom cooed. "Is she going to be all right here? Is your room cold enough for her?"

"I'll move her to the freezer before I head to bed," Ben assured her. "I'm just glad I managed to tire her out. She's livelier than XLR8 on energy drinks, I swear."

"Reminds me of a certain someone else when he was young," Mom noted with a chuckle, ruffling his hair. "Just don't stay up too late, okay? You need sleep too."

"Yes, Mom." Just two more pages of trying to relate the core message of _1984_ to his own life and he'd be free to crash for the night. Or complete the next level of _Sumo Slammers 2044._ Hey, even a full-time parent/student/hero needed a free moment every now and then, right?

"Oh, and while you were out, your grandfather called."

Ben groaned. "What'd I do now?"

"It's not bad… I think. He said to report back to Plumber Headquarters tomorrow. Your friend Rook found something."

Ben groaned again. Tomorrow was Sunday, and he'd been planning some semblance of a day off – sleeping in as late as Aurora would allow, then taking her to the library for some English-language CDs and children's books. He'd been hoping that Rook would take over the investigation part of this mission and just call on him when some punching needed to be done.

 _Unless this is about the punching part… maybe he's found out who did it! Or at least a good lead. Maybe we can finally catch this guy._

"Good night, Ben." Mom gave Aurora a little pat on the head before walking out. Aurora chirred and tucked her head deeper into her wings before settling back into sleep.

Ben, for his part, just groaned and headdesked against the keyboard, filling the computer screen with a row of gibberish. No rest for the heroic, it seemed.


	7. Understanding Between Mothers

One would naturally think that an abandoned car factory in a dead section of Detroit would be the perfect hiding place for a criminal operation. With so many vacant buildings around, after all, who was going to notice if one of them was suddenly occupied and running at full steam? As it turned out, a dilapidated factory suddenly springing to life with no explanation attracted a fair bit of attention… and the quiet neighborhood just made the noise and activity stand out all the more.

The goons in charge of the operation hadn't stopped to think about that, though, and so were completely shocked when, in the middle of preparing a shipment, the doors to the factory were blown wide open. They barely had time to raise their weapons before a blast of fire shot toward them, forcing them to scurry for cover.

"Whoo!" Ben hooted, lowering his hands as smoke drifted from the palms of his Heatblast form. "Now here's the part of the investigation I like the best!"

"Try not to smash absolutely everything in sight," Gwen advised as she hurried through the mangled doors after him. "We'll need some of this for evidence later."

"Party pooper," Ben retorted, then turned and shot a fireball at the gunman who had just emerged from cover. The man ducked behind a pillar as the fireball hit a stack of crates.

Rook and Kevin charged through the shattered door just after Gwen. Rook ducked behind a stack of crates as the gunmen opened fire, but Kevin stood his ground, smirking as bullets pinged off his iron chest. Incredibly, the shooters kept pouring lead at him, and Ben had to wonder just what kind of idiots this operation recruited.

Rook's lead had been a snippet of conversation from one of the aliens rescued from Llewelynn's carnival, the Arachnichimp who had been toted around in a cage as the unimaginatively-named Spider-Monkey. The simian alien had refused to cooperate with the Plumbers and so had not been officially questioned, but another Plumber reported overhearing him gossiping with his fellow captives shortly after their release. And during the gossip session he'd mentioned another alien who had been sold to an illegal weapons manufacturer in Detroit by the same slaver.

Ben sent a wave of fire at the crates to flush the gunman out of hiding. What a bunch of arms dealers would want with aliens he had no idea, but he was determined to make them think twice before dabbling in the slave trade ever again.

He spotted a scrawny guy in a tattered jeans jacket ducking through a steel door behind a rusting tangle of machinery, and with a scowl he bolted after him. The door slammed in his face, but he simply focused all the built-up heat in his body outward and shoved his way through it. It was like trying to walk through a wall of solid butter, but he was through within seconds, leaving a Heatblast-shaped hole in the door that dripped with molten metal.

What he saw beyond the door made his guts roil with horror… and anger. In sharp contrast to the rusting, decayed factory he'd just left, this place was humming with activity, shining new equipment thumping and grinding and buzzing as it churned out gleaming new components. Separately, the bits of metal and plastic looked more like dismembered action figures than anything contraband… but Ben spotted a few pieces shaped like triggers or pistol grips, and realized he was looking at gun parts.

Manning these machines and assembling the manufactured parts into guns were countless aliens – but not the same varied mix of aliens he'd rescued from the carnival. These aliens were so identical they could have been clones, short black-and-white beings with soft-looking bodies, bright green eyes set in round noseless faces, and three crests on their heads. They worked quickly and silently with four-fingered hands, their normally cheerful faces set in grim expressions.

 _Dittos,_ he realized. _Splixons… or just one Splixon who's been forced to copy himself way too many times._ It made sense, in a terrible way – buying a Splixon from the slavers meant a nearly-unlimited supply of indentured workers for the cost of purchasing, feeding, and housing just one. It would have been an admirable trick if it wasn't also so sickening.

In the very back of the room, a single Splixon cowered in a metal dog crate, a burly man in bulletproof armor and carrying an automatic rifle standing guard over it. Ben wondered at that, then decided it had to be an intimidation tactic. If one Splixon was injured, the wound and pain would be transferred to all his duplicates… and if one was killed, it would be fatal to all the clones, not just the original. No doubt the Splixons worked so tirelessly and without complaint because they knew the consequences would be dire should any one of them fail.

All this passed through his mind in a split second – but that was still long enough for every eye in the room to turn toward him. A sea of bright green eyes flashed, and smiles of hope bloomed on several faces.

"It's Ben Tennyson!" one of them squeaked. "The Omnitrix wielder!"

"Hot diggedy dog, we're saved!" another whooped.

"Back to work!" the gunman roared, lowering his rifle to aim at the caged Splixon. The alien shivered in fright, and his fellows hurriedly bent back to their tasks, though several kept a hopeful eye on Ben as he stormed into the room.

"Let 'em go," he growled. "Or there's gonna be a barbecue, and you're not gonna like what's being served!"

The gunman paled… then barked out a laugh and slammed the muzzle of his rifle against the crate, making the Splixon within jump in terror. "Take another step an' they all get it. Savvy?"

Ben groaned inwardly. Of course the bad guys could never make it easy…

"You're bluffing!" Gwen shouted, and it was Ben's turn to jump – he hadn't realized his cousin had slipped in behind him. "You wouldn't kill off your entire work force just to make a point!"

The goon grimaced, as if that thought had just occurred to him too. Then he swung the gun around and fired at Gwen, who threw up a pink-tinged shield to block the attack.

"Ben, go!" she shouted.

"Who made you the boss of this outfit?" Ben huffed, but he leaped forward, soaring on a jet of superheated air toward the dog crate. The Splixon was still covering his head and shaking with fear, but winced at the heat Heatblast emitted and glanced up.

"Hold on tight," Ben urged, and he focused as much heat as he could into his right arm. Holding his wrist rigid and palm flat to form a makeshift blade, he slashed at the top of the crate, his arm slicing through the bars with no more resistance than a spider's web.

"Oh no you-" the guard snapped, then yelped as Kevin charged forward and tackled him to the floor.

The Splixon stared at Ben with wide green eyes, not quite believing his luck. Then, with a wide grin, he leaped out of the remains of his cage, landing smartly at Ben's feet.

"Thank you, Tennyson," he chirped. "We owe you for this. But first… we want a little payback."

Ben grinned. "Be our guest, buddy. Just stick around after the fact. We wanna ask you a few questions."

The Splixon nodded, then turned to the duplicates, who had left off their work and were now massing together to get a closer look at their hero. "A'right, friends, we're busting outta this joint! Let's go kick a little tail before we go!"

The duplicates whooped and cheered before pouring out of the room and into the dilapidated portion of the factory. Soon crashes and screams and triumphant laughter echoed through the factory as an army of Splixons got their revenge against their captors. Ben had a feeling Grandpa Max wouldn't have approved of this turn of events… but then, Ben didn't care at the moment. Anyone who relied on slave labor to make a quick buck got what they deserved when their captives turned on them, he felt.

The Splixon he'd rescued nodded in satisfaction, then turned to face him. "I'd shake your hand, Mr. Tennyson, but you're a little hot to handle at the moment."

"Oh, right," Ben noted… just as the Omnitrix timed out with a series of beeps, and he felt his body revert back to human form. The Splixon laughed and grasped his hand in both hands, pumping his arm up and down vigorously.

"Name's Liijon," he told him. "Nice to meet you. Thanks for the help – wasn't sure how we were gonna get out of THAT jam."

"Glad to be of help," Ben replied.

"Indeed," Rook noted, looking up from where he'd just cuffed the gunman. "But as glad as we are to see you safe and free, Liijon, we need your help. You just might have information that can help us save others."

Liijon's expression darkened, but he nodded. "I'll do what I can. Lemmie go round up my dupes and then we'll talk."

Rook nodded, then winced as a heavy block of machinery punched through the wall. Splixons were a generally good-natured race, but both the Plumbers and the weapons dealers were quickly learning that they did NOT hesitate to get payback when crossed.

* * *

"...an' when I woke up, I was in that dog crate, an' some clown with a gun was ordering me to split off a couple hundred dupes," Liijon finished. "Then it was just work, work, work until you Plumbers sprang me."

Max nodded gravely. "You're sure you can't provide us with a description of the slavers?"

"They kept a blindfold on me until money changed hands," Liijon replied. "Did get a quick look at the leader, but she was wearin' some kinda hood. Couldn't make out a face. Sorry."

"Did you at least hear their voice?" asked Rook.

"Nope. Wasn't much of a talker. Heard plenty of people talkin' TO her, though… callin' her 'ma'am' an' 'miss' an' all that."

"Did you see a Plumber badge at all?" asked Ben.

Liijon cocked his head as he pondered the question. "Once. Just a flash of it through the cloak she was wearin'. I'm pretty sure it was a fake, though."

Max and Rook exchanged a long look, then Max sighed and gave a wave of his hand. "Thank you, Liijon. You were a big help. Plumber Cadet Helen will help you get to Undertown, where you can find a ride home."

The Splixon nodded and slid down from the chair, giving Ben a cheery wave before trotting out of the interrogation room.

Ben blew out a sigh. "Dang it. Still nothing. She's not making it easy to find her, that's for sure."

"At least we have conformation that our slaver is female," Rook replied. "And that they are at the very least impersonating a Plumber, if not a Plumber themselves. Though I shudder to think one of our own would be involved in the slave trade."

"We'll keep looking," Max assured them. "The entire Plumber force is devoted to finding the head of this operation. Whether it's one of our own or an impersonator, everyone wants them to see justice not just for enslaving innocent aliens, but sullying the Plumber badge."

"And by 'justice' I hope you mean 'serve them a knuckle sandwich.'" Ben cracked his knuckles.

"Calm down, Ben," Max told him. "We're here to serve justice, not become vigilantes." He motioned toward the door. "You can go now. I know you have a lot on your plate besides this investigation."

"Aw, c'mon, let me stay on and help you a little longer," Ben pleaded. "I really want to help catch this guy. Girl. Whoever."

"Let us handle the detective work," Rook advised. "Meanwhile, you have a child to take care of."

He sighed again. "This parenthood stuff is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. At least keep me updated, all right?"

Gwen and Kevin waited outside the interrogation room for him, and fell in step behind him as he headed down the hallway. "Any luck with him?" Gwen asked.

"Not much of anything we didn't know before," Ben replied. "Lady Plumber or Plumber wannabe who's smart enough to keep people from seeing her face. Ugh… I WISH this chick would slip up somehow and give us a real clue! Not this constant moose chase!"

"Goose chase, Tennyson," Kevin corrected.

"Goose, moose, whatever, it's driving me nuts. I want to catch this scumbag and teach her a lesson!"

"Calm down, Ben," Gwen urged. "The Plumbers are doing everything they can to catch her before more people are hurt. Besides, don't you have enough to deal with without getting involved in this?"

"She hurt Aurora," Ben replied. "I've got to do SOMETHING to make sure she pays for that."

Kevin laughed. "Whoa… who'd have thought Ben Tennyson would turn into such a mama bear, huh?"

Ben scowled. "I'm so glad I can be your comic relief."

"Nah, I think it's a good thing," Kevin replied. "You're gonna be a great mom with that kinda attitude. Though speaking of which, maybe you DO need to back off from this a bit."

"Not you too," Ben groaned.

"Hey, you wanna be a good parent, right?" Kevin pointed out. "Means you gotta prioritize things. What's more important – being there for Aurora, or chasing after a scumbag who's determined to stay hidden?"

Ben sighed – it seemed he'd been doing a lot of that lately. What was his world coming to when Kevin Levin turned out to be the voice of reason? Though at least he was halfway nice about it, not bossy or nitpicking like some people he could mention.

"Shouldn't you be calling your mom?" Gwen piped up, landing herself squarely in the "some people he could mention" camp. "You did promise you'd be home an hour ago, and she's been stuck babysitting Aurora all day."

"It's not like I asked her to do heavy labor for me," Ben huffed. "I think she likes spoiling Aurora." All the same, he pulled out his phone and dialed his mom's cell.

"Ben?"

"Hi Mom. I'm on my way home, sorry that took so long. How's Aurora doing?"

"Oh, she's just fine, Ben! I took her with me while I ran a few errands, and I think she's made some new friends!"

"Oh boy." Mom must have run into one of her yoga-class acquaintances and arranged a play date with the woman's kids. "She hasn't frozen anyone to the wall yet, has she? She's still getting a grip on her powers."

"She's been perfectly well-behaved," Mom assured him, only for an enormous belch that was almost a roar to echo through the receiver. "And no, that was not her."

"Ewww… I don't know if Necrifriggians CAN belch. Whoever that was, that was a doozy."

"I'll say," Gwen noted. "WE heard it loud and clear."

Kevin scowled. "I know that sound… where's your mom right now?"

"Running errands, I guess," Ben replied. "Mom, can you tell me where you are? We're going to come pick up Aurora and get her to Plumber base for her next class."

"At the garbage dump. Just returning something I borrowed. See you in a little bit."

Wait a minute… "Mom, wait, why are you – dangit, she hung up."

"The garbage dump?" Gwen repeated. "I know your mom's a little nutty sometimes, Ben, but why is she there of all places? And returning something she borrowed?"

Ben and Kevin exchanged a long look, then spoke up at the same moment: "Vreedles."

* * *

"Ain't you th' cutest lil' thing!" Ma Vreedle gushed, tickling Aurora under the chin with an enormous meaty hand. "Almost makes me regret mashin' all those Necrofriggian wings up t' feed my babies!"

Aurora giggled and waggled her wings, Ma Vreedle's macabre statement flying right over her head. "I'm cute! I'm cute!"

Ben turned to his mom and just gave her a LOOK. She held up her hands as if to say "what do you expect me to do about it?"

The Vreedles hadn't cropped up on the Plumbers' radar in several months, but that wasn't due to having fled the planet. They'd simply established new headquarters in the Bellwood Municipal Landfill, creating a crude but workable home from whatever odds and ends the human citizens of Bellwood and the residents of the alien Undertown tossed away. Every so often the eldest two Vreedle siblings, Octagon and Rhomboid, would make forays into one city or the other to steal or trade for whatever supplies they couldn't scrounge, but for the most part the criminal family was laying low and focusing mostly on raising Ma Vreedle's multitude of cloned offspring to adulthood.

Ben would never understand just how his mom had managed to strike up a friendship with the terrifying Ma Vreedle, but if it kept her from clobbering him on a regular basis, he could tolerate it. He wasn't so sure he liked the idea of her bringing Aurora to hang out with what was essentially the Space Clampett family, though.

"Mom… why?"

"Well, I had to stop by here," she insisted. "I borrowed a book from Ms. Vreedle, and I figured as long as I was out and about today I should return it. And then Aurora wanted to stay awhile and play with the kids, so how could I say no? I think she needs some time around children closer to her age anyhow."

"But Mom, the Vreedles? They're the biggest bunch of criminals in the galaxy!"

"Are you implyin' that just 'cause I've robbed a couple hundred banks in my day I can't have a heart?" Ma Vreedle rasped, glaring at Ben.

"I never said that!" Ben protested.

"I oughta smack you 'cross town," she went on, "but I'm a mother too. I got some standards, an' slappin' a fellow mother around ain't proper."

 _Didn't stop you from beating me to a pulp before,_ Ben thought, but decided it best not to mention that aloud.

The Vreedle's "living room" was just an area of the landfill that had been cleared down to the dirt of rubbish, with broken-down furniture assembled for sitting and a series of ragged tarps providing a makeshift roof. Rhomboid had an old boxy TV set perched on a rusted barrel nearby, and he was slamming his fist on the top in an effort to clear the picture. Octagon had disassembled a ray gun on a moth-eaten rug, alternating between trying to clean and reassemble the thing and swatting away Pretty Boy clones who kept venturing close to steal pieces. At least seven Pretty Boys wandered around, some playing with bits of trash and others harassing their older brothers. One sat on the ground next to Ma Vreedle and Aurora, sucking a lollipop and regarding the winged alien with dim curiosity.

Ben wondered why a criminal mastermind like Ma Vreedle would want to call someplace this disgusting a home. But then, she was a Vreedle. Maybe to them, this was paradise. It certainly didn't smell much worse than your typical Vreedle, and perhaps a few notches better than Pa and Parallelogram Vreedle.

"You gotta start feedin' her better," Ma noted, poking Aurora lightly in the belly and making her giggle. "She's too skinny. What're you givin' her, cheap alloys?"

"Plumber Glace says Necrofriggians only need to eat a lot of metal when they're about to reproduce," Ben replied. "The rest of the time it's just an occasional treat. Like chocolate for humans, I guess."

"Baloney," Ma grunted. "What makes this Glace such a bloomin' expert on Necrofriggians anyhow?"

"Maybe the fact that he is one?" Mom pointed out. "I'd think he'd be something of an expert on his own kind."

"Their own kind, Mom," Ben corrected. "Glace was very adamant about using the right pronouns."

Ma snorted. "Just like a plumber to insist ya stick by th' rules. Give th' girl some good steel a lil' more often. She deserves it. Doncha, hun?" And to Ben's utter shock she picked up the hatchling and planted an enormous kiss on the top of her head, making Aurora wriggle and chitter with laughter.

Ben just shook his head. Of the multitude of things he'd seen since donning the Omnitrix, this had to be one of the weirdest.

"You sit tight RIGHT there, lil' sweetie, an' Mama'll send ya home with some goodies," she told her, pinching her face where a cheek would be on a more humanoid alien before setting her down. "You play with Pretty Boy 'til I get back." And she stumped off.

Mom smiled. "She really is a wonderful woman. I don't know why the Plumbers seem to have it in for her."

"Maybe the fact that she's wanted in twelve systems, has been banned in twenty-seven others, almost destroyed Earth twice, and made Vilgax cry?" Ben pointed out.

"Well, nobody's perfect," Mom replied.

Pretty Boy chose that moment to pull the lollipop out of his mouth and take a swipe at Aurora with it. She shrieked in surprise as the sticky treat whacked her in the back, sticking to the ruffles on her sky-blue shirt. The Pretty Boy clone gurgled out a laugh.

"Hey!" Ben scolded as he bent down to scoop up Aurora. "Leave her alone!"

"Ben, you shouldn't yell at other people's children," Mom chided.

"I'm not gonna let him beat up on Aurora," Ben retorted.

Pretty Boy eyed Ben, then threw the sucker at Aurora. But she wasn't about to fall victim to his attack as second time – her head and limbs went hazy as she shifted, and the sweet projectile passed right through her head and hit Ben in the cheek, sticking there.

This time it wasn't just Pretty Boy who laughed – Aurora twittered with glee, and even Mom clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a chuckle. Ben rolled his eyes and set Aurora down to peel the lollipop off.

"We are never coming back here again," Ben groaned. "These guys are bad influence on her."

"They are a little wild," Mom confessed. "But they are just kids. Even Vreedle kids deserve a chance, right?"

"Here y'are, sweet thing!" Ma Vreedle cooed, slapping a box loaded with metal scrap down in front of her. "Don't eat it all at once!"

Aurora clapped and bounced on her clawed toes at the sight. "Goodies!"

"Uh… thanks," Ben told her. "So… does this mean we're good?"

Ma Vreedle smirked. "Don't think this means I won't clobber you if you get in my way or hurt my Pretty Boys, Tennyson. But you weren't lyin' when you said you were a mother too, were you? Maybe you're all right after all. Just take care of 'er, a'right? Cuz if you turn out to be one'a those rotten no-good parents, I'll hunt ya down an' feed ya to my boys."

"Aw, Ma, don't threaten us like that!" Octagon shouted, looking up from where he was playing an unhappy game of tug-of-war with a Pretty Boy over his half-assembled gun. "Humans are too chewy an' gamey!"

"You eat what's put before ya an you LIKE it, Octagon!" Ma shouted back. "Else you don't get no dessert!"

"I sure hope she's joking," Mom murmured.

"With Ma Vreedle, you never can tell," Ben noted as he scooped up Aurora. "C'mon, sweetie, let's get you home."

"Treats!" She pointed insistently at the box of scrap. "Don't forget treats!"

"Oh, all right." Ben handed Aurora to Mom before bending down to lift the box, giving a "whoof!" of effort. "Ugh… she's going to spoil Aurora rotten, I can tell."

"She means well, Ben. I know the two of you have your differences, but in the end she's just a mother trying to do what's best for her children. Even if her ways of going about it are a little unorthodox."

"You might be the only person in the universe who's ever seen good in Ma Vreedle," Ben pointed out.

"Well, someone has to." She hugged Aurora close. "Let's get her treats home, then get you two off to her class."

Ben opened his mouth to reply when his phone buzzed. He groaned and set the box back down so he could answer. "Hello?"

"Ben!" Gwen's voice hovered somewhere between ecstatic and horrified.

"Gwen? What is it?" Had disaster somehow managed to strike in the hour or so he'd been away from Plumber base?

"This just happened, but I figured you'd want to know – they've made an arrest! The Plumbers have a suspect in custody!"

Well, THAT was fast. Had they really managed to track down the head slaver with so little information to go on. "Who?"

"You're not going to believe this… but it's Doctor Lake. The medic."


	8. An Ultimatum

"I don't know how I can make myself any clearer," Doctor Lake stated, her voice calm and firm. "I've never had anything to do with trafficking sentient beings of any kind. And I don't know how the Plumbers could have gotten that notion."

"We seem to have gotten that 'notion,' missy, when we found all that cash in unmarked notes in your office," Magister Patelliday replied, his usual affable smile gone. "Not t' mention a witness who claims you were the last one seen with one-a our still-missin' aliens."

"That last one proves nothing," Doctor Lake retorted. "As for the cash… I have no idea how that got in my office. But someone's trying to frame me, I know it!"

"I wish we could believe that," Max replied soberly.

Ben didn't wish he could believe the doctor's excuse – he wished he could be in the room with Grandpa Max and the Magister to question her. But he was stuck outside the interrogation room, watching the exchange through a screen. He'd practically begged to be in there to help question her, arguing that she could have something dastardly hidden up her sleeve and they could use the protection, but Patteliday had insisted they could take care of themselves if it came to that.

At least he had Kevin close by to help him calm down, even if the Osmosian seemed more amused than anything at Ben's frustration.

"You gotta chill out, Tennyson," Kevin told him, pulling Ben's hand away from worrying at the Omnitrix. "Standing out here trying to make her head explode by glaring at her isn't gonna help anything."

"She sold Aurora into slavery," Ben countered. "She's responsible for what happened to Liijon and to Allyxx's sister! And you're telling me to 'chill out?'"

"Hey, Ben… they got her," Kevin reminded him. "They're gonna put a stop to this once and for all, and she can't hurt your kid anymore. Just be thankful for that, why doncha?"

Ben took a deep breath and expelled it slowly. Kevin did have a point, and some part of him WAS relieved that the leader of the slavers was under lock and key now. But that didn't stop the storm of emotions roiling in his chest and gut. This woman had hurt and terrorized Aurora, and under arrest or not it was all he could do to not shift to Humongousaur or Rath form and go in to teach her a lesson. And the fact that she kept denying everything wasn't helping.

"Yes, I was the last person seen with Xenia," she explained, her voice firm. "But only because Allyxx was worried about her health, and I'm the only doctor on this planet with experience in treating their kind. The last time I saw her was when she was heading down the hallway toward the cadets' dining area to meet her sister."

"She never made it that far," Max pointed out. "And seeing as no one else reported seeing her after she was taken to your medical bay, your story is a little suspect."

"Max, I've served the Plumbers for years!" Doctor Lake insisted. "You yourself encouraged me to pursue xeno-medicine! You know I wouldn't do something like this! I respect life forms from all over the galaxy far too much to want to turn them into some kind of commodity!"

Max and Patteliday exchanged a glance, and Ben wondered if Lake had managed to convince them of her innocence. _Oh please… don't let her win you over like this! You guys are smart – well, Grandpa Max is, though Magister Patteliday's a lot smarter than he looks. Please don't fall for this!_

"We'll investigate this further," Max said at last. "But until further notice, you're to be confined to the brig. We'll bring in another medic to cover the medbay for now."

She sat up straighter at that, hands clutching the table. "You wouldn't lock a fellow Plumber up with criminals!"

Max shook his head. "For your own safety you'll be segregated from the general population." He motioned to a couple of Plumbers standing at the door – one human, the other a violet-skinned alien whose race Ben didn't recognize right away – and the two moved to cuff Doctor Lake and escort her from the room.

Ben pumped his fist with a whoop. "We've got her!"

Kevin laughed. "Looks like it. Though we still gotta round up the rest of her crew. They're probably not gonna stop just because their leader got busted."

"Still, with their leader gone, this is gonna make our job a whole lot easier, right?" Ben retorted. "Plus, it means Aurora and any other alien kids out there are safe. Well, safer."

The doors to the interrogation room slid open, and Doctor Lake strode out, gaze fixed straight ahead as she was escorted away. Ben opened his mouth to shout something at her, but Max walked out and shot him a stern look that shut him up right away.

"Well, that went well," Magister Patelliday noted, brushing off the front of his uniform as he watched Lake being marched off to her fate. "So much for hopin' she'd actually say somethin' useful to save her own hide."

"She probably believes if she stalls enough, her cohorts will have time to move their operations or even stage a rescue," Max replied with a heavy sigh. "At any rate… just because we have her doesn't mean this mission is over. We still need to find her base of operations and rescue any aliens that might still be in her custody."

"I still think-" Ben grumbled.

"We're not resorting to 'enhanced interrogation' to get information out of her," Max said firmly.

"I wasn't thinking that!" Ben countered, though slapping the head of a slave ring around sounded really tempting at the moment. "I've got alien forms that could get a confession out of her easy. Ghostfreak, Toepick, even Pesky Dust…"

Max shook his head. "Fear is not a good interrogation tool, Ben. Yes, someone frightened will talk, but generally they'll say anything, even confess to the worst deeds, to save themselves. No, we'll find another way."

Ben huffed. "Then we're back to square one, huh? We've got the leader, but no clue as to where to find the rest of her operation."

"We're still cleanin' out her office an' medbay for clues," Patelliday replied. "Plus we got her house to search. We'll find somethin'. In the meantime, we keep our aural-spiracles sharp. Or well… whatever y'all use to hear."

Max nodded. "You two head on home. We'll alert you if we get any more leads, Ben. Go spend a little time with your girl while you can."

Ben sighed but nodded, and he turned to leave.

"Mind if I tag along?" Kevin asked. "I'd like to see how your kid's doing."

"Don't mind," Ben replied. "She's in class at the moment, but they should be done soon."

"How's that going anyhow?"

"Eh… she's picking up on how to phase and use her ice powers pretty well, but the history and culture parts are boring her to tears. And Glace's really been hounding on her to get rid of the clothes and act like a proper Necrofriggian, whatever that means."

Kevin shrugged. "If a human kid insisted on running around without clothes like a Necrofriggian, I'm sure we'd have issues with it. Still… it's not like playing dress-up's hurting her. And Glace's a fine one to talk if they wear clothes themself, right?"

"Finally, someone agrees with me," Ben sighed. "I get that it's important for her to learn about her kind, but they're acting like being raised by humans is tainting her somehow. She's happy, I'm not neglecting her, what's their problem?"

"Dunno." Kevin shrugged again. "But hey… at least they're tryin' to help, right?"

"I suppose… though I'm tempted to just take her home and read up on Necrofriggians myself so I can teach her. I'm getting the impression more and more that Glace just doesn't like me and would rather see Aurora go live off in space like the rest of her kind."

"Give it time, Tennyson," Kevin advised. "This class can't last forever, after all. And besides, you never know. Maybe Aurora really likes her teacher and lessons."

* * *

" _I don't wanna,"_ Aurora whined.

Glace sighed, ice crystals pluming from their mandibles. _"This class would be over much faster if you simply followed directions, little one,"_ they chirred.

" _I wanna go home,"_ she insisted, wings drooping. _"I'm tired. My head hurts. This is boring."_

" _If you expect everything in life to be interesting, then you're going to be a very disappointed, little ice-let,"_ Glace replied, voice gentle despite their wings quivering in irritation.

Aurora looked to Azmuth, hoping the Galvan would side with her. But the wizened gray alien simply stared back, and though she wasn't familiar with his kind's facial expressions she thought she could detect some exasperation in his eyes. Her innards clenched in response. Why did everyone come down so hard on her for not acting properly?

" _Aurora, please recite the names of the territories on Kylmyss,"_ Glace told her.

Aurora slouched in her chair, her light blue dress hitching up around her legs as she did so. _"Why?"_

" _Because your teacher requested that you do so,"_ Azmuth retorted. _"That is reason enough."_

" _I'm never gonna go there,"_ she retorted. _"Earth is my home, not Kylmyss. Why do I have to learn all this stuff about it?"_

" _Never say never, ice-let,"_ Glace replied. _"You may someday decide you wish to visit our homeworld for yourself, and it wouldn't do you any good to be completely ignorant of it when you do. And even if you remain on Earth, it would be disrespectful to your heritage to ignore your homeworld and native culture entirely."_

Aurora huffed, then huffed again in disappointment when no icy fog clouded the air before her. She didn't mind these lessons when they actually covered something awesome or that she felt could help her get along better with _Abru._ She'd just about mastered phasing, and was getting better at breathing ice, even if her efforts more resembled a burst of snowfall than solid ice at the moment. And learning the biology and anatomy of her own body was fascinating to her – how fast she could fly once she was fully-grown, how her body kept itself functioning in the vacuum of space, how someday she would build a nest of her own and lay eggs much as _Abru_ had. All wonderful and helpful…

But she didn't see the point of memorizing the cave-riddled territories of the Necrofriggian homeworld, or the history of the Mykdl'dy colony, or the exact dates of the great Glacier War between their kind and the Psycholeopterrans. Her home was here on Earth, with _Abru_ and _Gran'mah_ and Max and the Vreedles and everyone else. Why would she want to leave all of that behind, all the color and beauty of this chaotic world, to go visit a frozen wasteland?

" _Stubborn little one,"_ Azmuth noted. _"Much like her birth parent."_

" _Being tenacious isn't necessarily a bad trait,"_ Glace replied. _"Still…"_

The door slid open, and Aurora felt her spirits perk up. _"Abru!"_

"Hey there, sweetie!" _Abru_ grinned and opened his arms wide. "How's my girl?"

She felt her innards flutter with pleasure at those words. She'd been working very hard to understand English better, and though she was still clumsy with it herself she could now usually understand the gist of what the humans and aliens around her were saying. Now if she could just get her parent to speak her own language…

" _Abru!"_ she chirped, and flung herself out of her chair to hug him tightly.

"Well, it seems today's lesson is over anyhow," Glace sighed, folding their clawed hands before them. "She's free to go, Tennyson. Are you spending time around her in your Necrofriggian form?"

"At least an hour or so every night," _Abru_ replied. "We've even gone on flights together."

"Very good. Bring her by in two days, around noon."

"I won't be around to observe then," Azmuth pointed out. "I have an experiment to run, one too important to relegate to an assistant. It will keep me occupied all day."

"Should we reschedule?" asked _Abru._

Glace's eyes flickered like live coals, as if calculating something. "No… my schedule is tight. I have classes with the Plumber cadets I cannot rearrange."

"Very well," Azmuth conceded. "I'll ask whoever is supervising to record the proceedings. I'm still quite interested in this one's development. A Necrofriggian raised by a human… it should be interesting, if nothing else."

"If by 'interesting' you mean 'like a train wreck,' then I take offense," _Abru_ replied, but he laughed and lifted Aurora in his arms. "Let's get you home, sweetie. And get you out of that silly Elsa dress."

"Not get out of dress!" she insisted. "My Elsa dress! Aurora the Ice Queen"

Glace flicked an antenna, the Necrofriggian equivalent of a raised eyebrow.

"Her grandma showed her the movie _Frozen_ the other day," _Abru_ replied sheepishly. "She's been obsessed with it ever since. Dad's threatening to chuck the DVD out the window – 'as if we didn't get enough of it when it first came out,' he says."

"I see." Glace regarded the two of them a little longer, then motioned to Aurora. "Might I have a word with her before you leave?"

"Uh… sure." He set Aurora down. She hesitated, wanting nothing more than to go home with _Abru,_ but in the end she approached her teacher, expecting a stern word or a homework assignment.

She didn't expect them to kneel down and rest their hands on her shoulders, gazing into her eyes with an unexpectedly tender expression.

" _Know that I'm not teaching you all of this just to torment you,"_ they chittered. _"You are a rare thing among our kind – an ice-let who longs for the bonds of family. As such I only want what's best for you… and have no desire to see you forget your heritage."_

Aurora's wings trembled at those words. They sounded so sincere that a sudden weight of guilt formed in her gut. She should have been a good student for them, not moped and pouted and whined.

" _Go with your_ abru… _but do not forget that you come from a noble race. And that your kind will always welcome you with open arms."_ They squeezed her shoulders, then released her. _"Good luck, little ice-let. I will see you in two days."_

" _Okay."_ She bobbed her head and hurried back to _Abru,_ lifting her arms for him to pick her up. She couldn't wait to go home and watch _Frozen_ and Pony with her _gran'mah_ and fly with her _abru…_ but part of her wanted to find the datapads Glace had sent her home with and study up on the territories. She wanted to show them that she could be a good Necrofriggian AND still stay on Earth with her family. That was possible, right?

* * *

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson!"

Ben jerked awake, completely disoriented. Where was he? This wasn't his bedroom… and why was he naked? And blue? And why was "Let It Go" playing at full blast, and how on Earth had he managed to sleep through it?

It took a few seconds for his sleep-addled brain to un-muddle itself and remind him what he was doing. He was in Aurora's room, a refrigerated chamber Blukic and Driba had built onto their house, and he and his daughter had been watching her favorite Disney movie for the umpteenth time. And because the temperature in her room was too cold for humans to endure for long, he'd shifted to his Necrofriggian form before watching with her.

He must have fallen asleep at some point before the movie's most famous musical number… though frankly he wasn't too surprised at that. School, raising Aurora, and his duties to the Plumbers were all running him ragged, and he knew for a fact he wasn't getting enough sleep. It seemed he didn't have enough time for everything – he hadn't even picked up _Sumo Slammers_ in weeks.

"BEN!"

"I'm coming!" he hissed, and shifted Aurora off his lap. "I'll be right back, all right?"

Aurora didn't even seem to notice he was leaving – she was busy trying to sing along with Elsa, albeit in a much higher and out-of-tune voice.

The living room felt positively sweltering after the coziness of Aurora's room… though Ben fully realized that was the Necrofriggian part of him talking. He tapped the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, shifting himself back to human form, and gave a sigh of relief before turning to face his parents.

"Um… what'd I do?"

"It's more what you didn't do," Dad replied, scowling. "We just got a call from your school."

Ben felt his stomach clench painfully at that. He'd been slacking off terribly at school, using class time to snatch a few precious moments of sleep and cutting some of the more boring classes to sneak into the library and read up on Aurora's species. He'd figured he'd have ample time to make up the work once they'd caught the person behind the alien-trafficking business, but he hadn't realized his parents would find out so soon.

"Mom, Dad, I can explain…" he began lamely.

"Skipping classes, not handing in assignments, falling asleep in class…" Mom ticked off the points on her fingers. "You're failing everything, Ben! Do you realize how this is going to look on your transcript when you go to college?"

"I was going to make everything up as soon as I could!" Ben retorted. "But I've got other responsibilities too!"

"You're sixteen years old!" Dad shot back. "Your primary responsibility is to focus on your schooling! Not run around playing superhero or getting yourself knocked up!" He paused, his anger melting into disgust for a moment. "God, I never thought I'd be saying that to my SON…"

"You have a future to worry about, Ben," Mom added, her anger tempered with genuine concern. "A future that doesn't just involve aliens and being a single parent. And I'm sorry, but we can't just stand by and watch you ruin your life – we have to step in and do something."

A white-hot anger that would have done Rath proud began to bloom in his chest. "Are you saying I need to give up Aurora?! No way! She's my daughter, and I'm not going to dump her off on the Plumbers or chase her back into space just because my grades are slipping!"

"Something has to give," Dad countered. "You can't be a hero, a student, and a parent all at once. I know you want to do the right thing by Aurora, but there comes a point where you have to think about yourself and your own health and sanity."

Ben nodded, scowling. "Then I'll drop out of school."

"No!" his parents shouted at the same time.

"I can't give up Aurora," he insisted, "and I won't give up the Omnitrix, not after all this time. I can always go back and get my GED once she's old enough to be on her own… or I can just not worry about it. People drop out all the time and do okay!"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Dad growled. "Dropping out is NOT an option!"

"Ben, sweetie, PLEASE listen to reason!" Mom insisted. "You can't just give up your education like this! You have to contact your grandfather and tell him that something has to change – you either have to turn in your Plumber badge or find other arrangements for Aurora. I'm sorry… but we can't just stand back and watch you ruin your life or run yourself into the ground over all this!"

Ben ground his teeth, knowing that if he opened his mouth right now something he'd regret later would spill out. Trust his parents to be so against him bearing the Omnitrix or raising Aurora that they'd force him to give one or the other up. They usually meant well, but this wouldn't be the first time they'd tried to force him away from his duties… and hadn't THAT ended up pretty badly…

" _Abru?"_

He glanced down. Aurora had shed the Hello Kitty pajamas she'd been wearing and phased through the insulated door of her room, and now she wrapped herself around his leg, keening and fussing softly. The sight of her drooping antennae and huge, sad eyes made the anger melt away almost instantly.

 _No,_ he decided. _I'm not giving her up. I'd drop out of school before I gave up Aurora. And if it came down to it… I'd even turn in my badge and the Omnitrix before I gave up Aurora. She's mine, however unorthodox her creation was, and I refuse to throw her away just because it's inconvenient to raise her._

He bent down and lifted her in his arms, smoothing her baby down and stroking her shivering wings. "Hey sweetie…"

" _Abru_ yelled," she whimpered. _"Abru_ mad?"

"A little, but not at you," he assured her. "Go finish watching the movie, okay?"

"Stay," she insisted, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He hugged her tightly before turning back to his parents. No words needed to be said – he figured his expression and the frightened young alien in his arms said enough.

"If you drop out of school, you're no longer welcome in this house," Dad told him firmly. "No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"Honey!" Mom exclaimed. "That's barbaric! How could you throw your own son and granddaughter out into the streets?"

"It's fine, Mom," Ben replied. "I can always go live at the Plumber base with her." He set Aurora down. "I'll go pack my bags. Someone from the base'll be by later to rip out Aurora's room."

Dad paled, and Ben realized with a stab of relief that he'd been bluffing. "Let's not be hasty here, Ben… we can discuss this-"

The front door crashed open at that moment, making Aurora squeak and flutter into the air with fright.

"Ben!" Rook shouted.

"Why's everyone yelling at me today?" he groaned. "What is it, Rook? Have we got a lead on Doctor Lake's goons?"

"No, but we have bigger problems," his partner replied. "Vilgax has been sighted on the outskirts of Bellwood! We need your help NOW."

Under normal circumstances, the thought of fighting Vilgax would have both thrilled and terrified Ben. But now he only felt a stab of pure exasperation. Did he really need his arch-nemesis attacking his hometown on top of everything else tonight?


	9. Bellwood Battle

Vilgax… the very name was enough to strike fear in the heart of almost every sentient being in the known universe. A terrifying warlord who had conquered and destroyed worlds, wiped out entire races, and even forged a black hole, he had made it abundantly clear that he would stop at nothing to acquire the Omnitrix and use it to build an army of shapeshifters. His goal was the subjugation of the universe… though if he could personally destroy Ben Tennyson in the process, so much the better.

Of all Ben's many foes that he had clashed with over the years, Vilgax was by far the toughest and most dangerous. And under normal circumstances he would have felt some measure of trepidation at facing down the scourge of the galaxy. Even with Gwen, Kevin, and Rook at his side, this would be a tough fight, and there was always the chance that one or more of them wouldn't be going home tonight.

At the moment, all Ben wanted to do was get this fight over with and get back to Aurora. And there was even that small part of him that perversely thought that if he came out of this fight terribly injured, at least he'd get some rest in the hospital.

"I thought you said Vilgax was here," he grumbled, looking around the quiet suburban neighborhood where Rook had led them. It was a moonless night, but streetlights still provided enough illumination to show the streets were deserted.

"He was sighted here," Rook replied, arming his proto-tool and keeping it pointed straight ahead as he swept the area. "Though it is possible he has moved on. We will have to track him."

"Anyone think that maybe Vilgax is workin' with Doctor Lake?" asked Kevin. "Seems he'd be the type…"

"He's a scumbag, but not THAT much of a scumbag," Gwen pointed out. "Besides, at least one member of his species has been abducted and sold off. I'd think he'd be pretty against that."

"Gwen, this is Vilgax we're talking about," Ben pointed out. "He doesn't have standards. He'd sell his own mother off if he thought it'd help him take over the universe."

"This isVilgax we're talking about, not Argit," Gwen retorted. "And didn't he save his own homeworld at one point-"

A terrified yowl cut off the rest of her sentence, and a stray cat bolted away as a towering form thumped out of the shadows. Ben's irritation at being dragged out for another round of fisticuffs with his oldest enemy gave way to true awe and fear… and not a little confusion. Vilgax was tall, yes, but Ben was pretty sure that last time he'd seen the Chimera Sui Generis he hadn't been over thirty feet in height. Nor had he creaked and whirred metallically with every step, cratering the ground beneath his feet and smashing right through a house and its accompanying FOR SALE sign before reaching the street.

Kevin whistled. "Vilgaxmusta watched _Gundam Wing_ or somethin'. That's a pretty sick mecha there."

"'Sick' is not the descriptive term I would have used," Rook replied, eyes wide.

The mecha stomped to a halt in the middle of a cul-de-sac just ahead, then twisted around to face the gathered Plumbers. It was a hulking brute plated in dull green iron, guns bristling on its shoulders and knuckles studded with spikes to add extra lethality to its blows. Jointed iron tentacles trailed down its chest, as if Vilgax couldn't help but model his war machine after himself, and buckled into the transparent green cockpit where a head should have been was the warlord himself, a deadly smirk on his scarred face.

" _Ben Tennyson!"_ he snarled, voice distorted by the speaker built into the cockpit. _"I wondered how long it would take for you to crawl out of hiding and face me!"_

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ben retorted. "Let's just get around to the butt-kicking so we can lock you back up and…" His voice trailed off in a huge yawn. "…and we can all go home. It's late and I need sleep."

Gwen glared at him. "Can't you take this seriously for once, Ben?"

"Give the guy a break," Kevin countered. "He's been runnin' himself ragged for the past few months."

The mecha advanced a step, the asphalt crumpling beneath its feet. _"Surrender yourself, Tennyson, and I'll spare your wretched city. Refuse, and this neighborhood will be the first to be razed to the ground!"_

Ben rolled his eyes. "Look, Vilgax, I'm tired of this same old song and dance. Can we just skip forward to the part where I beat the tar out of you and you run off swearing you'll get me next time or some other lame Saturday-morning-cartoon catchphrase?" He raised his wrist and twisted the dial on the Omnitrix, selecting Humungousaur before bringing his palm down upon the device…

…and letting out a bellow of frustration. "WHAT?! LEMMIE TELL YA SOMETHIN', FANCY WRISTWATCH, THAT'S NOT WHAT RATH PICKED!"

Kevin snorted. "I dunno why he bothers actually pickin' an alien when the Omnitrix is permanently stuck on random."

"I thought Azmuth fixed it," Gwen groaned.

"Only in regards to the Necrofriggian form," Rook replied, then let out a shout of warning and pushed the two humans aside as a spiked fist slammed into the asphalt where they had stood. Ben, still ranting at the Omnitrix, was knocked off his feet by the blow and landed smack on his feline derrière.

" _You foolish humans bicker so much amongst yourselves,"_ Vilgax snarled, drawing his fist back for another blow. _"It's a wonder you can stop fighting long enough to actually establish a civilization!"_

Ben bellowed and leaped to his feet, digging his wrist-spikes into the mecha's arm and clawing his way up. Through the haze of rage that always filled his mind in his Appoplexian form he managed to put together some semblance of a plan – let the others distract Vilgax while he tore his way into the cockpit and thrashed Vilgax into next week. He was confident it would work out as planned, not stopping to think that he hadn't even told the others about said plan.

Thankfully, Gwen was sharp enough to catch on to what Ben intended, and she got to her feet and fired a blast of magenta energy at Vilgax's mecha to draw his attention. Vilgax spun the vehicle about and crossed both arms in front of its chest, letting the shaft of arcane energy impact against the thick armor there… and nearly scorching off Ben's fur in the process.

"LEMMIE TELL YA SOMETHIN', GWEN TENNYSON!" Ben roared.

"Not NOW, Ben!" she shouted back. "Just get to the cockpit!"

Vilgax caught on right away, and he slammed one hand of the mecha down on the opposite arm in an effort to crush Rath. The Appoplexian leaped up to the shoulder just in time, slamming both fists into the reinforced glass of the cockpit.

" _You really care that little about your own city?"_ Vilgax sneered. _"You would rather continue playing at your childish games than surrender yourself and allow Bellwood to remain standing? You really are a fool, Tennyson."_

Ben snarled and continued beating the glass, cracks spider-webbing across the cockpit with every blow. "STOP YAPPIN', SQUID-FACE! YOU'RE DISTRACTING ME FROM BREAKIN' IN TO KICK YOUR BUTT!"

" _I'll give you distraction, BOY,"_ Vilgax spat, and raised a spiked hand to swat Ben away… only to roar and stagger as Kevin slammed into the mecha's ankle, his newly-metallic body hitting the joint with enough force to put the entire thing off-balance.

"Nice work, Kevin!" Gwen shouted, firing another blast of mana. "Rook, Operation Turtle Walker!"

"I am still not sure why we call it that," Rook confessed, but raised his proto-tool and fired anyhow. A thin carbon-fiber cable streaked forward, the hooked end burying itself in the mecha's ankle joint. The Revonnahgander bolted forward, circling the mecha repeatedly while Gwen and Kevin did their best to keep Vilgax distracted… and wrapping the cable tightly around its legs.

A final blow from Rath's fists, and the cockpit shattered. Ben grinned savagely and grabbed Vilgax by the front of his body armor, yanking him close and raising his free fist.

"LEMMIE TELL YA SOMETHIN', SQUID-FACED TERROR OF THE UNIVERSE! NOBODY WRECKS BELLWOOD BUT ME! YA GOT IT?!"

Vilgax didn't deign to answer that with words – the snap of energy from a stun gauntlet said all he wished to. Ben yowled like a cat and staggered backwards, teetered a moment on the mecha's shoulder, and fell to the street.

"Ben!" Gwen flung both hands out, and a sheet of pink energy formed beneath the tumbling Appoplexian to cushion his fall. Even as he struck the makeshift landing net his body flared with green light, and it was a very human Ben that finally came to rest in the street, stunned and clothes smoking.

"Such heroic nonsense," growled Vilgax, and raised one foot of the mecha. The cable entangling its legs strained, then snapped like twine, and Rook backpedaled furiously to avoid being trampled.

"I thought you said that cable could contain a rampaging To'kustar!" Ben yelped, scrambling out of the path of the huge foot.

"I said _theoretically_ it could!" Rook retorted. "It had not been tested yet!"

Vilgax delivered a horrible laugh and raised both metallic fists high, the light of the street lamps glinting on the spiked knuckles. "You have no idea how much I'm going to enjoy this," he gloated, and brought both fists down.

Ben didn't stop to think – he twisted the Omnitrix to the one alien he knew he could count on and bright his palm down on the resulting holo. He barely had time to assume Big Chill form and go incorporeal before the iron fist smashed into the street. Vilgax's tentacled face was a study in angry bafflement as he raised the machine's fists to stare down at a completely whole and un-squashed Ben.

"Phew," Ben breathed, fog pluming from his mandibles. "That was almost bad."

"This is still bad, Ben!" Gwen screamed at him. "We've got to stop him before he levels this entire neighborhood and half of Bellwood!"

"You think I don't know that?" Ben retorted, and beat his wings to rise in the air before the mecha. Dangit, he just wanted this fight over with. He was so tired he could hardly see straight, and his body still stung from the shock gauntlet's effects. Where was Professor Paradox or Grandpa Max or some other heavy-duty backup when you needed it?

The mecha advanced a step, the guns on its shoulders clicking as they armed… then the massive machine recoiled as something darted down out of the sky, whacking Vilgax upside the head.

"What in the…" he snarled.

Ben's eyes couldn't exactly widen or bulge in this form, but they did pale to near-white in utter horror. "Aurora!"

" _Abru!"_ The little Necrofriggian hovered defiantly before him, her gem-like eyes sparkling with anger. "Mean guy's hurting _Abru!_ I'll stop him!"

"Aurora, go home this instant!" Ben ordered. "He's dangerous! He could hurt you!"

Gwen raised her hands, and a bubble of pink mana enveloped the hatchling. "I've got her, Ben! You focus on Vilgax!"

"No!" Aurora flailed, battering herself against the walls of her spherical prison. "Help _Abru!_ Wanna help!"

"Listen to Aunt Gwen!" Ben ordered. "Don't worry about _Abru,_ I'll be fi-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off in an agonized scream as a blast of energy seared through the air, scorching his left wing to a crisp. He fell like a rock… and this time he hit the street, no cushion of mana protecting him from the fall. Pain radiated through his entire body, dazzling his vision and driving the breath from his alien lungs.

" _ABRU!"_ The terror and anger in Aurora's voice was somehow far more painful than any of his wounds.

Hands pulled at Ben's body, and he feebly tried to bat them away. But when his eyes refocused and he realized it was just Kevin and Rook trying to help him to his feet he quit fighting. His Necrofriggian form had taken less damage from the fall than he'd expected, but he was still badly bruised and scraped up, and all that remained of his burned wing was a stump of muscle and a ragged scrap of membrane.

"We gotta call for backup," Kevin muttered, throwing Ben's arm over his shoulders for support. "He's beatin' the crap out of us. An' we gotta get YOU to a hospital."

"No," Ben protested, trying to pull away. "Aurora… where is she?"

"Gwen has her…" began Rook.

Gwen screamed, and the three of them whirled to see Vilgax's mecha lash out with a foot and kick her. She hastily threw up a shield that absorbed most of the blow, but it was still enough to knock her across the street and into somebody's rose bushes. The shield encasing Aurora flickered… then snuffed out.

"Aurora!" Ben wrenched free from Kevin and Rook and charged forward, limping badly but shutting out the pain as much as he could. "Aurora, fly! Phase! Get out of there!"

" _Abru!"_ she cried back, and turned around to face Vilgax with as much courage and indignation as a baby moth alien could muster.

A sadistic grin spread across Vilgax's face. " _Abru,_ is it? You've spawned a child. A deal then, Tennyson… give me the Omnitrix, and I'll spare the young one."

Ben skidded to a stop, and without thinking his hand moved to the Omnitrix shield on his chest. He had refused to give up the Omnitrix at his parents' demand… but if it was a choice between that and his daughter's life, there was no question in his mind. Giving up his status as a hero would hurt, no question about it, but it wasn't worth Aurora's life.

Aurora had other plans, however. She chirred and chattered for a good five seconds in her native language… and spat a wad of ice directly into Vilgax's eyes. It wasn't much of a blast, barely a handful of frozen matter… but it was enough.

Vilgax howled, releasing the controls of the mecha to claw at the crystalline substance blinding him. The machine staggered wildly, stomping a car and several trash cans flat and making Ben, Kevin, and Rook scatter. It tipped alarmingly, hung for a moment at a sever angle, then finally collapsed into the ruins of the wrecked house, its engines whining to a halt.

For a long moment, all anyone could do was stare at the wreckage. Then Rook hurried forward, wading through the rubble and pulling Vilgax free. The Chimera Sui Generis was still trying to pry the ice off his face, and didn't put up a fight as Rook slapped cuffs on his wrists.

"Whoa," Kevin murmured. "Wasn't expectin' THAT ending to the fight."

Aurora flitted down to hover in front of Ben, chirping excitedly. "I did it! I made ice! I did it!"

Ben sank to his knees, too relieved and exhausted to stay upright any longer. He reached out and hugged Aurora tightly, torn between laughing with joy and scolding her for not listening to his warnings. Though he couldn't be too mad at her for being stubborn and brazen – it just meant she was truly a Tennyson at heart, didn't it?

"You did so well, Aurora," he murmured. "I'm so proud of you! You're going to be a kick-butt heroine yet."

She chirred with glee. "Kick-butt hero! Like Elsa!"

He laughed again. "I'm going to have to introduce you to some more super-powered heroes with ice abilities. Like Frozone, or Mr. Freeze."

"I thought Mr. Freeze was a bad guy," Kevin pointed out, grabbing Ben under the arms and hoisting him to his feet. "Let's get you back to headquarters, though. You're a mess, and we gotta get Vilgax locked up. The Plumbers'll wanna question him."

Vilgaz snarled and turned in their general direction. A mask of ice still obscured his eyes, and Ben wondered if Aurora's attack had permanently blinded him. A blast of freezing air directly to the eyeballs couldn't be healthy for most alien races, right?

"The Plumbers won't be able to hold me for long," he growled. "I'll return, Tennyson… and I'll have your head AND the Necrofriggian child's!"

Aurora chattered angrily, shaking her fist in his direction, then finished with a stern "Bad Vilgax! No hurting _Abru!_ No hurting anybody!"

"That's right," Ben replied. "That includes all those aliens you've helped the slavers catch."

Vilgax's mouth dropped open… and he snarled in contempt, tentacles curling in disgust. "You think I had a hand in THAT? You're a fool, Tennyson. I don't deal in the slave trade."

"And why should we believe you?" demanded Gwen, finally extricating herself from the bushes, clothes ripped and leaves and rose petals clinging to her hair and clothing. "You aren't exactly the most trustworthy being in the galaxy, Vilgax."

He bore his fangs in an angry snarl. "Question the Vilgaxian High Council if you don't believe me. When one of our people went missing – under Plumber protection, I might add – I personally sent out a task force to find her and put a stop to the trafficking. Why would I do that if I were involved in it in the first place?"

"Covering your tracks?" Ben suggested.

"Enough of this," Rook advised. "We need to return to headquarters and report on what has happened. The Plumbers will send a crew to clean up here, and Ben needs medical attention. Then we can settle all of this for good."

* * *

With Doctor Lake gone, the task of tending to the Plumbers' medical needs fell on a team of Galvans and medical robots, all efficient at their jobs but with terrible bedside manners. None of the Galvans even spoke to Ben as they cleaned his wounds and dunked him in a tank full of transparent green liquid with the general smell and consistency of corn syrup. The robots, ironically, were slightly friendlier, if only because they actually took the time to explain what the hell was going on as they worked.

"Unfortunately, you will have to remain in this form until the regeneration tank has done its work," one of the machines explained once Ben quit trying to thrash to the surface. "When your injuries have healed and your wing has regenerated itself, you may return to human form."

"You guys could have told me all this before shoving me in," Ben complained. His mandibles were covered in a breathing mask, and a small radio built into said mask allowed his voice to be heard by those gathered outside said tank.

The robot ignored his complaint. "You should be fully regenerated and ready for discharge in approximately forty-eight hours. There might be some swelling, itching, discoloration, and loss of muscle control while you are undergoing treatment. These are normal side effects." And he trundled away.

Kevin snorted. "Sounds like fun in there."

"Shut up," Ben grumbled. "Is Aurora all right?"

"She's with Alyxx at the moment," Gwen replied. "She says she'll bring her in for a visit once she's had a chance to calm down and sleep a little."

"The Plumbers will look after her while you recover," Grandpa Max added. "We've already arranged for everything. Don't worry, Ben, she's in good hands."

Ben sighed and rested his forehead against the glass of the tank. So long as Aurora was okay, he was fine with whatever else happened to him. He'd even take a couple days immersed in green slime over having anything happen to her.

"Did Vilgax's alibi check out?" asked Kevin.

Max nodded. "The Vilgaxian High Council did indeed send search parties out for Xenia and her captors at Vilgax's orders. They're just as interested in finding the slave traders as we are. It's extremely unlikely that Vilgax is involved with Dr. Lake's operations."

"What about the doctor?" asked Gwen. "Did they find anything else? Some kind of lead we can follow up on?"

"An in-depth search of her house and office are underway," Max replied. "We're going over computer files, paperwork, anything that can offer us some clues. So far they've found nothing incriminating."

Ben groaned and slammed a fist against the glass of his tank – a weak blow, but a blow of frustration nonetheless. "There's got to be something we're missing here. We have to find these creeps… soon, before more aliens go missing!"

"We're doing all we can," Max replied. "But your first priority, Ben, is to recover. This battle took a real toll on you… and you were already running yourself ragged before it happened. It's time you took a step back from this mission and focused on other things."

Ben's head jerked up, green eyes flashing. "Don't tell me you're siding with my parents."

Max's eyes darkened. "I don't agree with them that you should give up Aurora. In fact, I think it's admirable that you're stepping up to be a parent to her. But you can't keep this up forever… and yes, your schooling is important, whether you think it is or not. I'm not asking you to hand over your Plumber badge – just take a hiatus until you've gotten your grades back up. Once you have things under control, we'll work on balancing your Plumber work with everything else."

Ben sighed again, clouding the breath mask up with fog. He didn't like being forced into a sabbatical like this, but at least Max wasn't telling him to quit for good. And though he hated to be pushed to the sidelines while the slave traders were still at large, he had to admit that he was nearing the end of his rope trying to juggle heroism, school, and parenthood at the same time. Something had to give, even if it was for a short time… and while he would have rather given up school than his Plumber duties, he'd accept it for now.

 _Maybe this is why so many comic-book superheroes don't have kids,_ he thought idly. _Because otherwise they wouldn't even have time for bathroom breaks, let alone sleep…_

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden commotion from outside the medical center. The Galvan medics scowled and glared as the doors hissed open, admitting a short, slender being in what looked to be the futuristic equivalent of a three-piece suit. Manny was doing his level best to stop him from going any further, but the being ignored him entirely.

"Excuse me, sir," the medical robot informed the newcomer in polite but clipped tones, "but only authorized personnel are allowed in the medical center."

The being regarded the robot coolly from behind square-lensed spectacles. A humanoid, crystalline alien of a translucent pale blue, he didn't have the blocky mineral look of a Petrosapian but was made up of smooth curves like a stylized statue. His eyes were glowing green hollows set in a noseless face with a smooth-lipped mouth and pointed chin, and in place of hair he had waves of glowing multicolored energy, like a miniature set of Northern Lights. He wore a sleek, professional-looking suit of a neutral charcoal-gray color, and in one hand he carried a stainless-steel briefcase. He looked utterly non-intimidating… except for the bodyguards that flanked him, two hulking Gimlinopithecuses and two jet-black Conductoids, all crackling with energy and giving Manny death glares.

"What the…" began Kevin.

"I believe introductions are in order," the alien replied, and he opened the briefcase and handed Grandpa Max a business card printed on clear plastic. "Slizzick, Attorney of Inter-Galactic Law, representing Dr. Justine Lake, M. D."

Grandpa Max glanced over the card, then tucked it into the chest pocket of his Hawaiian shirt. "This is neither the time nor the place for this, Mr. Slizzick. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Only Plumbers are allowed-"

Slizzick opened his briefcase again and presented something else – a Plumber badge. "According to Plumber Code Amendment 425-27-B, any currently-active Plumber may temporarily deputize a civilian as an honorary Plumber if they judge it necessary to the cause. Dr. Lake has given me and my bodyguards jurisdiction for the time being."

"You're just making that up," Kevin accused.

Max shook his head, rubbing one temple as if feeling a headache coming on. "It was a measure passed about ten years ago in an emergency. We never repealed it because we didn't think anyone would dig that deep into the books to find it."

"But Dr. Lake is in prison!" Gwen retorted. "She can't deputize you! She's not even an active Plumber anymore!"

Slizzick regarded Gwen calmly, the waves of energy atop his head coruscating with shades of pink and gold. "Dr. Lake has been dismissed as a medic, but not as an active Plumber, and as such still has authority to deputize me if she sees fit." He turned to Max, and a slimy smile crossed his crystalline face. "Now that I have your attention, Plumber Tennyson, we can discuss the spurious charges you've brought against my client – as well as the wrongful-dismissal suit she has filed against the Plumbers, not to mention conducting a search of her personal property without a proper warrant…"

Ben groaned and brought his remaining wing over to cover his eyes. Of course they'd end up having to deal with an evil lawyer on top of everything else. Could this whole mess get any worse?


	10. Spanner in the Works

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Apologies for any errors in legal matters in this chapter – my knowledge of the legal system is a little sketchy and mostly derived from shows like "Criminal Minds," "Law and Order," and the like. In all fairness, though, Plumber law and alien law probably play pretty fast and loose with the niceties of the US legal system…_

If Ben thought that being confined to a regeneration tank in the medical center was going to get him out of being cornered and questioned by Slizzick, he was sorely mistaken. The alien lawyer had settled in comfortably in his new role as "resident thorn in the side" at Plumber Headquarters, and even the Omnitrix bearer wasn't going to escape him on his quest for justice… or at least making it as difficult as possible for the Plumbers to pin anything on his client.

Ben was half-dozing in the regen-tank, the broadcast screen the medics had set up for him barely holding his attention, when a glittering blue form stepped in to block his view. His head jerked up, and he blearily tried to focus on the transparent alien… and the hulking yellow bulk of one of his bodyguards.

"Who…" he began, still trying to force himself awake.

"You're Benjamin Kirby Tennyson?" Slizzick asked, cocking his head to one side. The flickering waves of light atop his head faded to deep purple as he spoke.

"Last time I checked," Ben replied. "Why?"

Slizzick's glowing eyes brightened, and a smile that wouldn't have looked out of place on Vilgax crossed his lips. "Excellent. You're just the one I wanted to talk to." He pulled a chair over and sat down, opening his briefcase. "This won't take long. Make yourself comfortable, Lor."

The bodyguard, a female Gimlinopithecus, moved to stand directly behind Slizzick's chair, folding her arms over her chest and offering Ben a glower that plainly dared him to try anything in her presence. Not that he really could in his state…

"Hey, dude, if you didn't notice I'm kind of hospitalized here," Ben informed him. "Can't this wait until I'm, ya know, not missing a limb?"

"Justice and law wait for no one," Slizzick replied.

 _Yeah right, like you really care about justice,_ Ben thought irritably. _You just want whatever dirty info it takes to exo… exno… get your client off so you can collect a fat paycheck._ For once his brain managed to beat his mouth to the punch and decide it wouldn't be a good idea to say that out loud – though the fact that he was on some combination of powerful painkillers probably helped slow his mouth down some.

"So what's with the hired muscle?" Ben demanded. "You that scared of me or something?"

"Who says I'm frightened of you?" Slizzick replied coolly. "They're simply a precaution, to ensure I can do my job unmolested."

Despite his exhaustion and the fogginess in his brain, Ben managed a smirk. "Yeah… I think you're just afraid to confront me without backup."

Slizzick returned the smirk. "Believe me, Tennyson, I don't precisely need bodyguards. They're a precaution, yes, but I believe I could hold my own against you if it came to that." He turned to the golden-furred primate. "Leave us, Lor. Wait outside for now. I'll call you if I need you."

Lore nodded, fired another glare at Ben, and turned to leave.

"Now if we're done with the childish threats, we can proceed. Do you mind if I record this conversation?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Slizzick grinned again but didn't answer. "I would like you to state your full name and your rank for the record, please."

Ben's antennae twitched at that. Something smelled rotten about this… it almost felt like a trap. But the request was fairly harmless, right? "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson… but everyone calls me Ben. I only get called Benjamin when someone's angry with me. Rank… uh… Plumber, Omnitrix-wielder, and hero."

The crystalline alien nodded. "Are those last two titles official Plumber titles?"

"Um… no, but…"

"Let the record show that Mr. Tennyson has no special designation beyond rank-and-file Plumber," Slizzick spoke into his briefcase, which must have contained a recording gadget of some kind. "Can you explain to me why you were selected to wield the Omnitrix? A powerful device like that couldn't be entrusted to any ordinary Plumber, I'm sure."

"What's this got to do with anything?" Ben demanded.

"I'm merely trying to establish your credibility as a witness or as evidence to present to the court," Slizzick replied. "Answer the question, please."

He sighed, ice crystals clouding his breathing mask for a moment. Everyone connected to the Plumbers knew this story already – saying it out loud just made it seem really silly in his mind.

"I found it on a camping trip," he said at last. "It stuck to my wrist and refused to come off. But Grandpa Max trusted me with it, and since he's a pretty famous Plumber…"

"Nepotism, then." Slizzick pulled a stylus from a chest pocket of his suit and wrote something down.

"Hey! It's not nepotism! I've done a lot of good things with the Omnitrix! I've saved the universe a few times, a bunch of smaller planets and cities, stopped a bunch of really nasty villains from taking over…"

"And yet you just admitted that you were allowed possession of the Omnitrix chiefly because of your relation to Max Tennyson," Slizzick noted dryly.

"Uh… strike that from the record?" That was a legal term, right?

"I believe only a judge has the power to do that," the attorney replied. "Hmmm… I think that's enough with the personal questions. Let's move on to the reason I came here – your interactions with Doctor Lake." He tapped at something inside his briefcase – he must have some kind of computer system in there. Or the briefcase WAS just a fancy computer system.

"What is your relationship with the defendant?" asked Slizzick

"This is a hospital, not a courtroom."

"Answer the question."

"She's a doctor, I've been her patient once or twice," Ben replied. "And she's looked after my daughter a couple times. That's it."

Slizzick nodded. "Have you had any contact with her since her arrest?"

"No… I wasn't even allowed to be there when they interrogated her. Kevin and I watched, though, and I wanted to slap her every time she lied to Grandpa Max's face…"

"Memo to myself: question Kevin Levin once through with Ben Tennyson," Slizzick murmured, and Ben wanted to kick himself. So much for his brain being ahead of his mouth for once…

"What kind of alien are you anyhow?" asked Ben, wondering if derailing the conversation might throw him off a little and win him some respite. "I've never seen one like you before. If you're in the Omnitrix, I've never seen it."

"We're a rare race," Slizzick replied, not looking up from the computer. "Appelatian, to answer your question."

"Uh… Appa-what? You don't LOOK like Rath." That was an understatement – the short, thin, transparent alien couldn't look less like the perpetually-enraged tiger-man.

"Not Appoplexian, Appelatian," he replied coolly. "Though I've taken enough of them as clients over the years. We're not a race of uncouth gladiators – we prefer to settle our differences not through war or duels or physical violence, but by the courts. There's a certain nobility to triumphing over a foe using only your knowledge of law as your weapon."

"An entire race of lawyers… great," Ben groaned.

"Not all of us," Slizzick replied. "Just the vast majority. But we're getting off the subject." He looked back up at Ben, reaching up to adjust his glasses. "Have you been assigned to the investigation of Lake's alleged connection to the trafficking case?"

"Not 'alleged,' she's definitely the leader," Ben retorted. "And no… I was assigned to look for her henchmen, but I guess I'm on leave from that due to… well, this." He rapped the wall of the tank. "Are we done now?"

"Hmm… so you admit to not being assigned to the investigation?"

"Uh… not in those words, no."

"I see… then you and Mr. Levin's search of Dr. Lake's office a few hours ago was done without permission from your superiors, and without any sort of warrant or consent."

Ben's heart jolted in its chest. Dammit! "That's impossible… I've been stuck in this tank all night!"

Slizzick had no eyebrows, but something about the way his light-hair twisted indicated a sardonic expression anyhow. "You're only wasting both our time by lying, you know."

"Honest! How could I have broken into her office when I've been stuck in here?" He thumped the side of the tank again. "I'm not Houdini, I can't just waltz out of here whenever I feel like it."

Slizzick just looked him up and down, as if wondering just how stupid the young Plumber thought he was. Then he turned the briefcase around to reveal a screen in its lid… a screen playing a video that showed two young human men rifling through desk drawers in a darkened office.

"Oh great," Ben groaned. Here he thought he'd had a genius idea…

" _Kevin, we've got to search the doctor's office again."_

" _Are you nuts, Ben? We've got us a lawyer an' his goons breathin' down our necks – you want to give him more ammo to shoot the case against Lake down?"_

" _Look, there's got to be something big in there that everyone's missed. A message, a document, even a picture. We've got to find it before Slizzick does and tries to suppress it or use it against us."_

" _Max an' Rook have gone over that office five times. What are we gonna find that they didn't?"_

" _You never know… maybe it just needs a pair of fresh eyes. Or a lot of fresh eyes. Eye-Guy might work…"_

" _Whoa, Ben, you're talkin' as if you'd be doing the searching. You're kinda tied up at the moment."_

" _Maybe not as much as you think… I've got a plan…"_

He shook his head, dispelling the memory on the off chance that this Slizzick fellow was some kind of telepath. "That can't be me. I've been in here all night."

Slizzick shut the briefcase. "True enough. That tank doesn't look to have been breached at all. Still… you have alien forms capable of phasing through solid material. Including the alien form you're currently in right now."

He looked down at his Necrofriggian body. "Yeah, but I swear I've been in here all night. Ask the medics – they've been in here to check on me every half-hour on the half-hour. I couldn't sleep because of it."

"Point," Slizzick replied, "but that is hardly your only form. And you've proven imaginative with the Omnitrix before. What was to stop you from, say, shifting to a form capable of making duplicates of yourself, then letting said duplicate assume your human form in order to do your dirty work?"

Ben winced. How had Slizzick guessed what he'd done so quickly? And why did using Echo Echo's cloning abilities for anything other than battle always seem to backfire on him? At least the first time it had just meant Julie not speaking to him for a few days… this time it just might cost them keeping Doctor Lake in custody.

"The video does not indicate that you found anything in your search, though I could be wrong," Slizzick noted, his voice dripping with satisfaction. "Still… it's evidence that the Plumbers have thoroughly bungled this entire investigation. I think this is cause enough for charges against my client to be dropped, or at the very least for her to be released until a formal trial can be arranged."

Ben growled and punched the wall of the tank, earning a glower from the nearest Galvan medic. "If I wasn't stuck in here I'd whack that grin off your face so fast-"

"Temper, temper, Tennyson," Slizzick chided, standing and tucking the briefcase under one arm. "I would hesitate before doing anything else rash – you wouldn't want to sully the reputation of the Plumbers any more than you already have."

"Just shut up," Ben snapped, his remaining wing quivering with anger. "We're just trying to stop a bunch of goons from exploiting innocent aliens for their own profit! And you're interfering with that!"

Slizzick shrugged. "That's up for the courts to decide." He turned to go, then paused and glanced back over his shoulder. "And in case you're wondering – no, I don't plan on staying here and harassing the Plumbers forever. Once I've finished up with Dr. Lake's case, I have other clients to see to. Though given your… reputation, Mr. Tennyson, I assume we'll be meeting again very soon." And he walked out.

Ben resisted the urge to flash a rude gesture at the departing lawyer, and settled for just muttering a few choice words to himself as he leaned his head against the glass. Blast it… had he just managed to screw up the investigation for everyone? Was Doctor Lake going to walk free thanks to his stupidity?

* * *

Slizzick's bodyguards were silent and intimidating for the most part, trailing after the attorney and shooting death glares at anyone who so much as glanced in his direction. And despite some posturing from Manny and Kevin, no one dared mess with them. Seeing as their employer came from an entire planet of lawyers, it was judged best to leave them to their own devices… not to mention that both Gimlinopithecuses and Conductoids were powerful aliens that most Plumbers knew better than to cross if they could help it.

But there was one being in the Plumber base who not only messed with the bodyguards on a regular basis, but got away with it too. Though being young and cute probably had something to do with it.

"Ain't you just a little doll!" one of the burly yeti-like aliens cooed, ruffling the soft down atop Aurora's head. "I should take you home with me when we're done here."

Aurora squeaked and fluttered her wings in response. "Not a doll! And not leaving my _abru!_ " But she reached up and grabbed onto the creature's leg anyhow.

The Conductiod chuckled, her tail switching back and forth in amusement. "Never took you to be one to have a soft spot for kids, Yukon."

"Hey, I got a young one'a my own back home," the Gimlinopithecus – Yukon – replied. "Maybe a bug-baby ain't as cute as my son is, but I'm biased that way… an' she's still plenty adorable."

Aurora patted at Yukon's knee. "You're soft."

"Hehe… this ain't a pettin' zoo, kid, but you can touch." He grinned at his comrade. "Never thought the bugs could be this cute, eh Decei?"

The Conductoid– Decei – shrugged. "I've seen Necrofriggian hatchlings up close quite a bit. I'm immune to the cute."

"Liar!" Yukon laughed and patted Aurora's back lightly. "I see that look on your face. The power of cute compels ya!"

"Fine, fine, she's adorable," Decei laughed. She held a hand out to the hatchling, and Aurora grasped it and carefully inspected the plugs at the end of her fingers. "Curious thing, aren't you?"

Aurora touched the end of one of the plugs… and screeched in shock as a burst of electricity passed through her. It was a gentle surge, not enough to do damage, but it startled her nonetheless. And to her embarrassment it made the thin layer of fur covering her body stand on end, giving her the look of a plush doll.

Yukon belted out a deep laugh. "Just when I thought she couldn't get cuter!"

"Sorry, little one!" Decei fussed over her, smoothing her fur down and checking her hands for burns. "Are you okay?"

Aurora shuddered from head to foot, then gave herself a brief once-over to ensure she hadn't taken any hurt and that her fur was set to rights. "I'm okay… that felt funny."

"I'm sure it did." Decei patted her head, then straightened up. "We'd better go find the boss and take over the shift for Thales and Lor. Give them a break for awhile."

Yukon nodded and nudged Aurora along. "Go find your _abru_ or whoever's takin' care of you, all right? We gotta get back to work."

Aurora nodded, and she trotted away as the two bodyguards walked off, talking between themselves. She didn't understand why everyone was so intimidated by these aliens. Sure, they were big and could look scary when they wanted to, but she knew they were big softies underneath the tough fronts. Most adults were if you were small and cute enough, she'd discovered.

 _Though maybe Glace's the exception,_ she thought as she phased through the door to the classroom. The older Necrofriggian seemed entirely immune to any and all efforts to "cute" her way out of an especially tough lesson. They were smart, yes, and seemed genuinely interested in teaching Aurora, but their lessons were often too dull to interest her.

Grandpa Max had told her to do her best for Glace, and that they meant well and just wanted her to know as much as possible about her heritage and abilities. She didn't see why she had to learn half the stuff Glace taught, but for the sake of her _abru's abru's abru,_ she'd do her best to make Glace proud of her. And maybe if she proved how smart and dedicated she was, they'd finally ease up a little.

The classroom was empty, so she sat down in the nearest chair to wait for them. She knew Glace wasn't terribly impressed by her liking for clothes – which seemed kind of strange to her when they wore a uniform beneath their wings – so as a minor act of rebellion she'd insisted on putting on what she considered her nicest outfit for today's lesson. _Gran'mah_ had tried to protest, insisting that her Elsa dress was meant as a Halloween costume and wasn't appropriate for "school," but Aurora had inherited her _abru's_ stubbornness as well as his bold streak and wouldn't be budged.

The minutes ticked by, and she occupied herself by trying her best to sing songs from _Frozen_ and _My Little Pony_ as she waited. She still didn't understand some of the words and her voice was much raspier than Elsa's or Anna's or Twilight Sparkle's, but she figured enthusiasm had to count for something. Besides, she had a liking for music – which made it a crime in her mind that Necrofriggians didn't have music of their own. Unless Glace hadn't gotten to that part of their lessons yet…

Where _was_ Glace anyhow? She cut off in the middle of the "This Day Aria" and glanced up at the clock. Almost half an hour after lessons were supposed to start – they'd never been this late before. What was keeping them?

A little knot of anxiety formed in her innards. She wasn't especially fond of the older Necrofriggian, but they were still one of her kind, and she wished no harm on them. Had something happened to them?

She tried to push her worry aside and kept singing. Whatever was wrong, there wasn't anything she could do about it. She'd just keep waiting until they showed up or Grandpa Max came to fetch her, whichever came first.

" _This day is going to be perfect,"_ she sang softly. _"The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small-"_

The door to the classroom slid open while she was occupied with her song, and she didn't realize that the intruder wasn't her teacher until a thick bag was yanked over her head. The last note morphed into a shriek as she swatted at her attacker, but either they had multiple arms or there was more than one of them, for a blanket was wrapped tightly around her, trapping her arms and wings against her body.

"Stars, that was easy," a low, deep voice grunted. "Here I thought Necros were hard to catch."

"Just don't be stupid with this one," a higher voice replied – this one sweet and almost childlike, but with a sinister undertone that made her shiver. "We don't need our cover blown by an escapee."

"Wasn't my fault the squid-girl almost got away," the first grumbled as he hefted the squirming Aurora over one shoulder like a sack of produce. "Let's get outta here. Boss ain't gonna keep a lid on security for long."

Aurora struggled to calm down, resisting the urge to kick and thrash uselessly. She was bound too tightly to hope to break free, and there was nothing stopping her captors from just grabbing her again right away. If she was going to escape, she had to do it the Necrofriggian way. Focus… shift… phase…

She couldn't do it. She strained and struggled to adjust her body and slip free of her bonds, but no matter how she tried she couldn't do it. Panic squeezed her insides, and she squealed in desperation.

Something sharp poked her in the side. "Another sound out of you and you'll live just long enough to regret it, insect," the childish voice whispered.

She swallowed her sob of fear and tried again, recalling everything Glace had ever taught her about going ethereal. What was happening to her? Was it the dress? Glace had warned her that clothes would make it hard for her to shift quickly in an emergency… had their warnings proven right? But if so, shouldn't she just be able to phase out of the dress itself?

Finally she couldn't hold it in anymore – she began to keen in utter terror. Had she managed to think through the panic she would have realized this was probably the smartest thing she could have done – noise could possibly attract rescue, and her captors wanted her alive and wouldn't follow through on threats of violence – but at the moment she was too overcome with fright to think straight.

"Gah… shut 'er up before she attracts attention!" the deep voice hissed.

"Why is it always me that has to solve our problems?" the childish voice replied. "There, there, little one… it's going to be okay. Just relax and… sleep."

A fine powder drifted into the bag, and before Aurora could stop herself she breathed in a mouthful of it. Instantly blackness overwhelmed her, and she went limp in her captor's grip.

* * *

It had been a long and frustrating couple of days for Max Tennyson, and he was more than ready to call it quits. Dr. Lake's lawyer had proven to be both tenacious and utterly ruthless in his methods, and seemed prepared to pick the Plumbers apart like a wild Anubian Baskurr and gnaw their bones clean in his quest for a not-guilty verdict. And he seemed to spot corruption and conspiracy in every corner of the Base, until even Blukic and Driba were suspect in his eyes. Pointing out that those two weren't bright enough to find a Mr. Smoothy without help, let alone plan any kind of conspiracy, didn't help matters.

He wondered if Slizzick's mission wasn't to uncover as much wrongdoing as he could, real or simply perceived, and use it as some kind of leverage to get the Plumbers to drop charges against Doctor Lake. If that was the case, Max refused to give in to his tactics. He liked Lake and wanted to believe she was innocent, but he didn't want to risk letting her go until they were absolutely sure she wasn't a suspect.

Finally he'd allowed Magister Patelliday to take over in his stead and went to go pick Aurora up from her lessons. At least Patelliday was used to dealing with the intricacies of Plumber and intergalactic law, and despite his deceptively simple manner could possibly outmaneuver Slizzick at his own game.

He opened the door to the classroom… and felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Aurora and Glace were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Azmuth, but he'd expected that – the First Thinker had been busy today and hadn't been able to observe the class as usual. For the two Necrofriggians to be gone, though… that was worrisome.

 _Maybe Glace is taking her out for a flight,_ he thought, though almost instantly he dismissed that possibility. Glace was a stickler for protocol, and would have let him know if he intended to take her outside the base. Something must have happened…

A glimmer on the floor caught his attention – a couple of silvery-blue specks. He bent down and carefully scraped them up in his hands. Two sequins, one broken in half… sequins that just might have come off a child's princess costume…

He grabbed his radio and thumbed it on, forcing a tremor out of his voice as he barked the order. "Lock down the base. Repeat, lock down the base! All Plumbers sweep the base. Find Plumber Glace and Aurora right now!"


	11. Bloodlines

Under normal circumstances – as normal as circumstances ever got for him, anyhow – Ben would have been thrilled at being able to escape the regen-tank and shift back to his human form. True, the regeneration fluid had left him covered in itchy hives and tinged his skin an unhealthy green, but at least he was in one piece now. And able to run for the hills if that slimy lawyer tried to corner him again.

But any relief he might have felt upon being cleared to leave the tank was instantly snuffed when Rook came in to deliver the news – that Aurora was missing, and her teacher with her.

"Where did anyone see them last?" Ben demanded, stumbling after Gwen and Grandpa Max as they made their way toward one of the conference rooms. Forty-eight hours floating in a vat of alien goo had left his legs weak and clumsy, and he cursed himself for getting hurt in the first place. Why did he have to be weakened and out of shape now of all times?

"That's what we're trying to determine," Max replied, voice low and grave. "Gwen said Aurora insisted on walking to class by herself today."

"Gwen, you let her?!" Ben winced at how much his voice sounded like his mom's squawk of outrage, but at the moment circumstances were perfect for a mom-like shriek.

"This isn't Gwen's fault, and don't you dare blame her for it," Max retorted. "Though I have to admit, Aurora picked an inconvenient time to start asserting her independence."

Ben reached up and grabbed two fistfuls of his own hair, as if the action was some kind of pressure release that could relieve the roiling in his guts. He'd never thought the slavers would target Aurora. Somehow, despite knowing that aliens of all sorts were being targeted by the traffickers, he had assumed she was safe as the daughter of Ben Tennyson, Omnitrix-wielder and hero. He hadn't wanted to think that she could be in danger too… or that the slavers would want "their property" back, given that she had escaped their clutches once already.

 _I'm going to find you,_ he vowed quietly, stoking his anger to burn away his panic. _I'm going to find you and get you to safety. And then I'm going to crush Doctor Lake and all her cronies! They won't even want to look twice at another alien!_

"Did anyone else see Aurora before she went to class?" asked Gwen, trying her best to be brisk and efficient but her voice tight with worry.

"One of Mr. Sleazoid's hired muscle told me she hung out with 'em for a few minutes," Kevin replied, jogging to catch up with the group. "Guess they like her."

"Who doesn't like her?" Gwen demanded. "She's adorable and sweet and trusting. I just worry that trust has gotten her into serious trouble."

"Think the bodyguards might be in on this?" asked Ben. "Maybe Slizzick representing Doctor Lake isn't a coincidence – maybe he's got ties to the whole trafficking ring!"

"Jumping to conclusions isn't going to get us anywhere," Max said firmly. "We've got Plumbers searching the base top to bottom looking for any trace of Aurora and Glace, or whoever snatched them. In the meantime, someone's come forward with information that can help us."

Hope flared up in Ben's chest, dampening his anger and fear for a moment. Had one of the Amalgam Kids seen something? Or Alyxx? He kind of hoped it was the latter – it would be a nice piece of justice if the two of them could work together to find their missing family members and bring their abductors to justice…

His train of thought derailed entirely as he entered the conference room… to find not only Magister Patelliday and Rook present, but Lake, Slizzick, and the lawyer's hulking bodyguards. "What are THESE jokers doing here?!"

"Ben, calm down," Rook ordered. "They are here to help us."

"Help us?" Ben stormed into the room and slammed his hands down on the table, glaring daggers at Lake. "Her goons took Aurora! Why would I trust her to help us?!"

Doctor Lake sat between Slizzick and the female Gimlinopithecus bodyguard, still in her prison-issue gray-blue bodysuit and her wrists still manacled in energy cuffs. She met Ben's gaze calmly, and he was struck by the sadness in her eyes – sadness and exhaustion and fear.

"Ben, your daughter is one of my patients," Lake said softly. "She is an absolute sweetheart, and she clearly loves her _abru._ I would never want her hurt."

"Maybe not hurt," Kevin retorted, a metallic sheen spreading over his skin as he placed his palm against the metal wall. "But Necrofriggians get top dollar on the black market. That's a hard temptation to pass up, ain't it?"

Gwen gave him a sidelong glance. "Do I want to know how you know the going price for an alien?"

"Hey, you hang around the wrong crowd long enough, you hear stuff," Kevin countered.

"Enough," Max ordered. "Everyone just calm down. Doctor Lake and Mr. Slizzick have offered to help us, and despite the ongoing investigation we're not going to turn that help down."

"Let me guess," Ben demanded, "she wants to cut a deal of some kind. Let off scot-free in exchange for finding her. No deal."

Doctor Lake shook her head. "No, Ben… I'm not cutting a deal. I just want to tell you what I know. I want nothing in return."

Ben stared at her, shock obliterating any sassy retort he might have had.

"Normally I would advise my client against this sort of thing," Slizzick noted, folding his hands before him. "However, given the circumstances, I'm inclined to step back and allow her to act as she wishes."

"Even if this damages your case?" asked Rook warily.

Slizzick nodded. "I know human culture has a dreadful opinion of attorneys… but I have some standards. Victory in the courtroom is not worth jeopardizing a child's life."

Ben opened and shut his mouth a few times, but no sound came out. The attorney he'd just written off as pure evil, who had ruthlessly picked him apart during questioning and seemed to enjoy deflating his ego, was actually offering to help him? There had to be a catch to this somewhere…

 _Don't question it,_ he told himself. _They're offering to help, and at this point you'd take help from Vilgax or Dr. Animo if they offered it. Accept it._

"Tell us what you know," Max told Doctor Lake. "Have the slavers taken Aurora and Plumber Glace? Do you know where their hideout is?"

She looked down at her cuffed wrists. "I know you don't believe me when I say I'm not connected to the slavers in any way… but I can promise you I'm not. I have no idea what rock those scumbags are hiding on or under. But I can say with certainty that I think I know who the slaver in question is."

"An' y'all waited until NOW to tell us?" demanded Patelliday.

"I wasn't certain until now," Lake retorted. "But being locked in a cell gives you plenty of time to think. And it allowed me to piece together a few things that didn't quite add up."

"Such as?" Max prompted, raising an eyebrow.

"How a certain Plumber kept coming in with mysterious injuries and vague explanations as to how they got them," Lake went on. "How they kept requesting leave for the smallest reasons, or just vanishing entirely with what seemed to be weak excuses. And how one of their disappearances just happened to coincide with Xenia's kidnapping… and how they just happened to go missing now, at the same time as another child."

Ben felt his jaw drop. "Are you saying…"

"Plumber Glace didn't get snatched by your slavers," Lake replied. "They're working for them."

* * *

Aurora woke slowly, her head feeling strangely swollen and fuzzy. Her body wouldn't immediately respond to her commands, her wings flopped uselessly out to either side and her limbs heavy as lead. Her brain felt just as sluggish, foggy and blank, and she struggled to recall where she was. Home with _abru?_ No, she should have been somewhere else… class, perhaps…

Memory returned in a rush, and she squealed and wriggled to her feet. Someone had grabbed her! Those bad guys _Abru_ and _Gran'pah_ Max were chasing, maybe? She had no idea… but wherever they had taken her, she had to escape. They couldn't mean to do anything good to her…

Her compound eyes finally focused, and she looked around the chamber she found herself in. She'd expected a dark and tiny prison cell, but it was almost as big as _Gran'mah's_ living room back home and illuminated with a pale blue light. The blue-white walls were strangely jagged, almost faceted, as if the room had been carved from solid ice, while the floor was so smooth she could see her reflection in it. She stood on a platform of cold stainless steel, which hummed softly as if chilled from within by some freezing mechanism, and two steel chairs that also thrummed and buzzed occupied two corners of the room. The chamber felt even colder than her bedroom at home, yet it was comfortable and refreshing to her.

Some deep-set part of her felt soothed and at peace by the icy room… and that more than anything terrified her. This room might be perfect for a Necrofriggian, but it wasn't _home._ She wanted her _abru's_ too-warm house and her bedroom full of plushies and pony toys and Disney Princess memorabilia. She wanted _Gran'pah_ Max and her grandparents and Rook… and more than anything she wanted _Abru,_ his too-warm but still safe hugs and his voice assuring her that everything was going to be okay…

A door she hadn't noticed before – the same blue-white of the walls and only slightly smoother in texture – swung open, and three aliens walked in. The tallest, a hulking Transylian with gray-green skin and a massive pair of sparking conductors jutting from his back, stood back in the doorway and folded his arms over his chest as if standing guard. The smallest, a fairy-like Nemuina, fluttered after the third with a crystalline tinkling of its wings. The third and last wore a flat, featureless gray mask that obscured all but their amber-green eyes, and a hooded cloak concealed the shape of their body… but the front gaped open just enough that she caught a glimpse of a Plumber badge on their chest.

 _I know that guy…_ A memory flashed before her eyes – of her first capture by the slavers, of the masked and hooded being who had handed her over to the fat human in exchange for a fistful of green paper… of a cramped cage and staring eyes and fingers reaching through the bars to poke her wings…

But there was something else familiar about the leader than that – the scent, the gleam of eyes, the gliding steps as they crossed the room… And when realization hit her, she gasped as if she'd actually taken a physical blow.

"One Necrofriggian larva as promised, boss," the Nemuina chirped, and Aurora recognized her as one of her captors. "Not a scratch on her, just like you asked."

The hooded form nodded, then gestured toward the door.

"We ain't leavin' until you paid us what you promised," the Transylian growled. "You know how friggin' hard it is to break into Plumber Base? Even with the access codes you gave us?"

The hooded one didn't turn to face him, but spoke in a soft, rasping voice: "Leave us. We will handle your compensation when I am through here."

The Transylian sputtered angrily, but the Nemuina rested a hand on his shoulder and nudged him out. "C'mon, Karloff. Let the boss do what he needs to do."

Karloff snarled but stalked out. The Nemuina followed, letting the door slam behind them.

Aurora stared at the hooded, masked being, and finally forced out the name: "Glace?"

In response the Plumber reached up and peeled away the mask, then let the cloak fall to the floor. _"There's no point in wearing these any longer, I suppose. You know my voice too well… but even if I hadn't spoke, I sense you would have known who I was soon enough. You're a clever one, little icelet."_

Aurora screeched and beat her wings, rising to Glace's eye level. "You kidnapped me!"

" _Speak our language, little icelet. You are going to be spending a lot of time in our people's company from now on, and not all of them know English."_

She screeched again and spat a burst of ice directly into his face. Glace's mandibles clenched in concentration, and the frozen projectile passed through their head and smashed into the wall beyond.

" _You're getting better at utilizing your ice powers,"_ Glace noted. _"Soon you will have caught up with other icelets of your age, and no one will know you were ever in the company of humans."_

Aurora lowered her head and charged at Glace, and hissed her frustration when she passed directly through their incorporeal body. She whirled around to try again, only to squeal angrily as their clawed hands grabbed and held her.

" _Calm down, little one. I mean you no harm. Yes, you may call what I did to you a kidnapping, but you are not to be sold off like the others. That's why I took you to my quarters instead of the holding pens – you are not a slave, but a guest of honor."_

Aurora glared at her teacher, antennae twitching in fury. _"You're the slaver_ Abru _was hunting! You're their leader, not the nice doctor lady!"_

" _Doctor Lake is an unfortunate victim of circumstance,"_ Glace replied. _"She was getting too close to the truth, and so I had to set her up as a suspect. Once everyone assumed she was the guilty party, who would believe her accusations?"_

" _Why?"_ She squirmed, trying to break free of the Plumber's grip. _"Why do you do this? Selling aliens like they're pets or property is evil!"_

Glace walked to the nearest chair and sat down, not loosening their hold on her. _"It's a shame you were raised by humans – they have such rigid ideas about good and evil. In the universe beyond Earth, if one wishes to survive, they must learn that there is no such thing as good versus evil – there is only survival, plain and simple. One must do what they can to get ahead."_

" _You're hurting people!"_

" _I do no such thing. I provide a commodity that others are quite willing to pay for. And I treat my product carefully – no one wants damaged merchandise, after all. What they do with said merchandise after they have paid for it is their own business."_

Aurora finally squirmed free of their claws and charged for the nearest wall… only to bounce off of the chilled plastic and hit the floor with a dull thud. She shook her head, dazed, and patted herself down. Someone had stripped off her Elsa dress before she woke up, but in its place she wore a singlet of a strange, rubbery gray material. She hissed her frustration and clawed at the ugly outfit, hoping to find a zipper or a seam she could rip apart, but it didn't so much as stretch at her tugging and slashing.

" _Calm down, little icelet,"_ Glace urged, rising from the chair and stooping to pick her up again. _"The suit you're wearing keeps you from shifting through the walls. I will remove it once I'm sure you won't run away."_

" _Lemmie go,"_ she whimpered. _"Please… I don't wanna be sold! Please, just let me go back to_ Abru!"

Glace's eyes glittered, and their mandibles softened into something almost like a smile. _"I won't sell you, little one. Why would I sell my own offspring into slavery? I'm not that heartless."_

She froze, staring at the Plumber in utter shock. It couldn't be… _Abru_ was her mother, not this wicked slave trader who was a disgrace to the badge they wore! And yet…

" _Use your antennae,"_ they urged. _"Investigate my scent. You will know that we share DNA."_

She didn't want to do what she was told… but her antennae drooped down to stroke along Glace's arms anyhow. The pheromones he gave off were far different from _Abru's_ – cold and almost metallic, not like the warm and musky scent of humans – but there was no mistaking the familiar scent. A scent she shared, a thread of likeness that was far too strong to simply be chalked up to shared species…

" _But…_ Abru…" She shook her head, trying to deny it.

" _The boy you call_ abru _may have given birth to you and your siblings,"_ Glace replied, their voice sharp with disdain. _"But he couldn't have done it without my help. His Omnitrix only works if it has the DNA of a species within it, and when Azmuth requested a donor with a certain genetic mutation for his work, I volunteered."_ Their voice softened again. _"Ben Tennyson may have carried you, but you and I share blood, little icelet. You are my child, my offspring… my family."_

Aurora's head spun in confusion. She had a basic idea of how _Abru's_ Omnitrix worked, but this mess was still too complicated for her to follow.

" _You are Necrofriggian,"_ Glace went on. _"You come from a grand and glorious heritage, and I would be honored to show you our homeworld and teach you of your history and culture."_ Their wings spread wide in an all-encompassing gesture. _"As soon as we've completed the final sale, we will return to Klymyys together. I will raise you as you deserve – in comfort, on your native ice fields, with your true family by your side."_

She stared at Glace, trembling. Then, mustering her courage, she hissed with all her strength in their face.

" _You sold me once,"_ she chittered, wings quivering with anger. _"You sold me to the carnival, remember? You let them lock me in a cage and show me off like I was an animal."_

Glace's eyes flashed, the amber within their depths glinting like flames. _"I did not realize you were my kin at the time. Had I known-"_

" _You SOLD me!"_ she screeched. _"Like I was property! Like… like merchandise, like you said! And you didn't care what that carnival did to me once you got your money – you didn't care if the starved me or beat me or left me to die in the heat! It was_ Abru _who saved me! He's more my parent than you'll EVER be! Because he treated me like I mattered, not like a commodity!"_

Glace shook her roughly, jarring the breath out of her. _"You will not speak like that to me again, child! I am your parent, and you will treat me with respect!"_

Aurora chirred out a few words that she knew she shouldn't be speaking at her age. Glace hissed and shook her again, then set her down all too roughly on the metal platform.

" _You will come to accept me in time, and love me as your true_ abru. _You will forget the foolishness humanity has foisted upon you soon enough."_ They turned and strode toward the door. _"I have some business to see to, then we will depart for Klymyys. You will stay here until it is time to go."_

Aurora made a dash for the door, but it slammed shut in her face. She pressed herself against it and willed herself to phase, to pass through and escape Glace's clutches and warn _Abru_ about their plans… but to no avail.

 _I gotta get out of here… I gotta warn the Plumbers…_ Abru… Abru, _where are you?_

* * *

"For the last time, Ben, you're not going anywhere!"

Ben looked up from the bag he was packing. "Aurora's been kidnapped and everyone just expects me to stay home and take a nap? Heck no!"

"Your grandfather told you to stay home and rest!" Mom protested. "Not to go chasing off after slave traders! And you're in no shape for this anyhow – look at you, you're green!"

"It's just side-effects from the medicine, Mom," he told her, zipping the duffel up and slinging it over one shoulder. "And I've got to do this. Glace could be anywhere now, and he might have a buyer lined up for Aurora already. I have to save her!"

"But Ben… you're exhausted, and you still haven't recovered from your last fight," Mom pointed out. "You're going to hurt yourself, even get yourself killed!"

"I can't let Aurora get hurt either. Mom… you and Dad would do anything to keep me safe, right?"

"What do you think we're trying to do?" she retorted. "I know you want to save your daughter – believe me, I know what it's like to know your child's in danger and want to do everything in your power to save them." Her eyes darkened with a sadness that shocked Ben. "Do you not think that every time you go off to fight whatever villain is threatening the universe that your father and I want to run off and save you? But we realize we're not equipped to do that, and so we trust that others will protect you when we can't."

Ben blinked at her, stunned. He'd never stopped and realized just how much his heroic antics worried and terrified his parents. Before he had always considered their efforts to end his involvement with the Plumbers an annoyance… he hadn't stopped to think that it was because they were trying to keep him safe.

"I know you're worried about her. We all are. She's a special little girl, and even if she's blue and flies and phases through walls she's still our granddaughter. But sometimes you just have to put your faith in others, and realize that there's nothing you can do."

Ben took a deep breath… and stepped toward the bedroom door. "I know what you're trying to say, Mom, and I think I understand what I've put you guys through better. But I'm sorry – I have to do this. There IS something I can do… and now, more than ever, I've got to go out there and play hero. She's counting on me to do this."

For a moment he feared Mom wouldn't step aside…but she finally sighed deeply and pulled him into a tight hug. "Be careful, all right? I know you can't lose Aurora, but… we can't lose you either."

He hugged her back. "I'll be fine, Mom. I've got Gwen and Kevin and Rook to watch my back."

"All right… but if anything happens to you, tell them I'll have their hides."

Ben nodded, and he hurried down the stairs and into the living room. Gwen, Kevin, and Rook were already waiting for him, as was another Plumber who had insisted on tagging along.

"We ready?" Ben asked.

"Ready to bust some scumbag slaver heads," Kevin replied, cracking his knuckles.

"I still can't believe we never suspected Glace before this," Gwen groused. "We should have seen SOME signs…"

"I never liked him," Ben noted, "but I always assumed that was just because they didn't like me. I didn't think he'd be THIS low to capture one of his own kind!"

"Something does not seem right about that," Rook noted. "Still… we should rescue Aurora first and worry about the motives later." He turned to the fifth member of their party. "Are you sure you wish to come with us?"

Alyxx nodded, mouth set in a firm, determined line. "If we find Aurora and the slavers, there's a chance we might find my sister too. Maybe it's a long shot, but..." She looked ready to tear up, then shook her head, her head-tentacles swaying at the movement. "If nothing else, I owe Glace a kick in the gut for what they've done."

Despite his worry, Ben couldn't help a grin. "I like you, Alyxx. And I promise you that we'll do everything we can to find your sister once we find Aurora and arrest Glace."

Alyxx nodded, and this time the tears spilled out. "Thank you…"

"We don't even know where Glace is!" Gwen reminded them. "It's all well and good to say we're going to beat them to a pulp, but we have to find him first!"

Ben turned to Kevin. "You know anything? You've overheard so much else about the criminal underground."

Kevin shrugged. "Just 'cause I hear what goes on doesn't mean I get involved, Tennyson. Or scrounge for the dirty details. Knowin' TOO much is a good way to get yourself killed."

Ben groaned. "There's got to be someone who knows. This kind of thing can't just operate in complete secrecy – how else would they find buyers?"

Kevin's mouth twisted into a wry smile. "I might not know much about how the traffickers operate… but I know someone who might."

"Who?" asked Rook. "And why do I get the feeling we are not going to like the answer?"

"You won't," Kevin assured him. "And trust me – if something dirty is goin' on, there's one master of crime who's gonna have all the info about it, even if she doesn't get involved herself."

"She?" Alyxx repeated, confusion making her tentacles writhe.

Ben, Gwen, and Rook exchanged a look, and they spoke the name with equal amounts of dread – "Ma Vreedle."


	12. On the Ice Planet

Had anyone else, under any other circumstances, barged into Ma Vreedle's junkyard home without invitation or warning, they would have found themselves thoroughly ventilated by whatever weapon she had on hand… or just fed kicking and screaming to her myriad Pretty-Boy clones. Indeed, the moment Ben burst into the junkyard in XLR8 mode, Ma rose from the broken-down La-Z-Boy recliner and raised a plasma rifle that bore a disturbing resemblance to a Tommy gun. But somehow he managed to blurt out just the right combination of words to make her pause:

"They've got Aurora!"

The massive Vreedle jerked as if the name had been a punch to the gut. "The kid? Who's got 'er?"

"The slavers!" Ben went on, waving his claws about frantically. "Led by that rotten traitor Glace! He's been using his position to smuggle aliens into slavery, and he's gotten Aurora!"

"Way to blurt out sensitive Plumber information, Ben," Gwen muttered as she, Kevin, Alyxx, and Rook finally caught up with him. None of them had drawn weapons, not wanting to risk a firefight now of all times, but Gwen still had her hands raised, ready to throw up an energy shield if necessary.

Ma's eyes widened, and she bore her gapped teeth in a feral snarl. "Them low-life scum's got your kid?! I'm gonna crush 'em to a pulp an' feed 'em to my sons!"

"Aw, Ma, why you gotta be threatenin' US as well as them?" Rhomboid whined.

"You shut yer gob!" she shouted back. To Ben she said "Whatcha need MY help for? Plumbers an' Vreedles don't work 'm I s'posed to know this ain't some kinda trap?"

"Maybe Plumbers and Vreedles don't work together," Ben replied, "but Moms do." He extended a taloned hand toward her. "We don't see eye to eye on everything, but you're a mom, right? You worry about your kids – well, some of them. Can you help a fellow Mom out?"

Ma narrowed her eyes. "You gotta do better than that, kid."

"You do realize that these slavers seem to be targeting aliens of all sorts," Rook pointed out. "It is possible that they may come after your sons at some point. Especially given their enormous physical strength and the ease with which they can replicate more."

The dozen or so Pretty Boy clones wandering about the junkyard squealed in fright and ran to huddle behind Ma, whimpering.

Alyxx stepped forward, her facial tentacles quivering worriedly but her expression calm. "Mrs. Vreedle, Glace has my sister. If you help us – and help me find out what happened to her – then you'll be in this Plumber's debt. Surely a favor owed you by a Plumber is worth something." A flash of distaste flickered through her eyes, but she didn't rescind the offer.

Ma glared at Alyxx… then snorted and gave her a slap on the shoulder that nearly knocked her over. "Aw, don't look at me like I'm heartless! I ain'tlookin' for favors. Just wanted to be sure this wasn't some trick to get me locked up." She slung the gun over her shoulder. "I don't get mixed up in slave traffickin' –that's a low us Vreedles don't stoop to. But I keep tabs on 'em, just to make sure none'a my boys end up on the auction block."

Ben perked up at that. "Then you can tell us where to find them?"

"Tell ya?" Ma belted out a laugh. "I ain'tgonna tell ya."

"But-" began Alyxx, still rubbing her shoulder.

"Imma show y'all!" she boomed. "Boys! Get yer guns! We're goin' Necrofriggianhuntin'!"

"Aw, Ma," Octagon grumbled. "We just got comfy after th' LAST heist ya sent us on!"

"You wanna stay behind an' babysit?" Ma snapped. "If not, get your butts hoppin'!" She turned back to Ben and his crew. "Y'all got a ride? Our bucket's still in th' shop for repairs."

Ben cocked his head curiously. Considering he'd seen the Vreedles' ship keep flying with only a fraction of its engine still intact, he had to wonder just how catastrophic the damage could be to put it out of commission.

"We can take the Proto-Truk," Rook offered. "Just tell us where to go."

Ma nodded. "Let's go find yer girl, Tennyson. An' if that Glace fella's put a scratch on 'er, I'll rip their wings off myself."

"You can have them once I'm done with them," Ben told her. "Let's go!"

* * *

Glace kept no guards at the door of Aurora's room – evidently they figured that the suit preventing her from phasing would be enough to keep her contained. Had a guard been posted, they would have probably boggled at the sight of a set of wings emerging from the sealed door, fluttering frantically against the icy metal. Two feathery antennae soon joined them, then an upside-down head…

Aurora growled in frustration as she wriggled against the door. The suit didn't affect any part of her body it didn't cover, which had at first excited her. If she could get part of herself out, perhaps she could figure out a way to work out the rest? Or maybe if she pushed hard enough she could just squirm her way out of the suit entirely. But no matter how she struggled or clawed at the suit, it wouldn't come off or even rip or stretch. It was as if it were indestructible.

 _Think… think! You can do this! Elsa got locked up in a cell too, and she was able to escape! She used her ice powers, right?_

But that was a little different – Elsa had been chained up, but used her abilities to freeze and break her bonds. Aurora had already tried freezing her suit off, and it hadn't worked. And the other things Elsa had been able to do with her ice in the movie were pretty, but not exactly useful. Building an ice castle wasn't going to do her any good, and she doubted she had the power to create an army of living snowmen to break her out.

She pulled herself back into the room and examined the suit again. There had to be a zipper or something, right? Glace had gotten it on her somehow, and would want to be able to get it off her again. They wouldn't want her stuck and unable to phase forever, right?

 _I dunno WHAT they want,_ she admitted to herself. On the one hand, Glace was related to her, and seemed to really want to be an _abru_ to her. But on the other hand, they were working with slavers… and had sold her once before into slavery. If she upset them enough, would they sell her off again just to be rid of her? Or were they lying about wanting to raise her, and would give her to another carnival or someplace worse for enough money?

She shook her head and went back to looking the singlet over. It didn't matter what he wanted. She wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out. She had complete faith that _Abru_ was on his way to save her… but she wanted to help make his job easier if she could.

A chirp of triumph trilled from her mandibles as she finally found what she was looking for – a slight indentation along the inseam of the singlet, so faint she almost missed it at first. It looked almost melted together, as if they had worked the outfit onto her while she was unconscious and sealed it shut. Perhaps Glace HAD intended to keep it on her forever… or had plans to cut her out of it once they were sure she wasn't going to run away.

 _Then he's gonna need something to cut it with,_ she decided. _But what if only a special tool can cut it? I don't know… I don't know what to do!_

In frustration she screeched and blew a swath of ice across the floor. The frozen material glittered in the light, bristling with glittering crystals. Under other circumstances Aurora would have found it beautiful – she liked looking at pretty things – but now she felt only thwarted anger and defeat as she stared at the mass of icy shards…

 _Shards… almost like glass. I wonder…_

She wrapped one hand around the biggest of the crystals and jerked as hard as she could. It snapped off in her hand, the broken end glinting wickedly. Ordinary ice might not do the job… but this was Necrofriggian ice, and felt strong in her hands. It was worth a shot, wasn't it?

The rubbery material of the singlet resisted at first, and it took a great deal of sawing to make even a small gash in it… but just knowing it could be cut was a huge relief. She sat down on the floor and continued cutting, careful not to slice herself by accident. She just hoped she could get this job done before Glace and his goons showed up again – she didn't think they'd be very happy to find she'd shredded the very thing they were using to hold her captive.

Another section of the suit gave out… but the ice crystal had dulled to uselessness against it. She reached over and snapped off another before going back to work. Hurry… she had to hurry…

* * *

"We have to hurry! Can't this thing go any faster?"

"Ben, will you calm down?" Gwen snapped.

"My daughter's probably sold off to a zoo or something by now and you expect me to calm down?" he protested.

"I can assure you that we are going as fast as the engines will allow," Rook informed him. "Any faster and we risk a catastrophic meltdown."

"I'm half-tempted to turn into Upgrade and take this ship over to get it to go faster," Ben retorted.

"Don't you dare, Ben!" Gwen ordered. "No one's going anywhere! You seriously need to calm down! Alyxx has a relative we need to rescue too, and you don't see her freaking out!"

"Please don't bring me into this," Alyxx groaned.

"Can we all just cool it?" Kevin asked. "Thing's are heatin' up enough in here as it is, what with the Vreedle B. O. and all…"

"You sayin' we stink?" growled Ma Vreedle. "I'll have ya know that there's th' best perfume this side'a the Andromeda! Pa Vreedle loves it… an' makes great knockout gas durin' a robbery!"

Kevin just grimaced and edged as far away from Ma and her two oldest sons as he could. It meant half-climbing into Alyxx's lap in the process, but he seemed to prefer the Chimera Sui Generis in close proximity over the Vreedle.

The Proto-Truk was built to accommodate a pilot and one passenger/co-pilot – perhaps a third if they weren't especially claustrophobic. Rook had never planned to pack eight passengers inside, two of them full-sized Vreedles… but then, everyone involved in this venture could agree that this was no normal mission. The question was whether being crammed into close quarters would lead to them killing each other before they even reached the slavers' headquarters.

"You sure this is the place?" asked Alyxx. "The Plumbers have been looking for the traffickers' operations for awhile… would they really be bold enough to keep their operations in the same solar system?"

"Yadoubtin' my word?" Ma Vreedle demanded of the young Plumber, raising an eyebrow.

Kevin snorted. "I think most of us trust you 'bout as far as we can throw you."

"Kevin!" Gwen snapped. "She's helping us out! Be nice for at least five minutes!"

Ma barked out a laugh. "Nice don't get ya far in this universe, lil' lady! Smart of your beau not to trust me. I'm a criminal – an' proud of it – an' just 'cause I'm helpin' ya now don't mean we're gonna be on good terms from here on out."

"Point," Gwen admitted. "And I have to admit that Pluto isn't a bad choice for their headquarters. It's remote enough to escape scrutiny, but close enough that the Plumbers wouldn't even think to check it."

"Maybe they that since we no longer classify it as a planet, it wasn't worth checking out," Ben pointed out.

Gwen gave her cousin a look that plainly said he was an idiot for even opening his mouth.

"What?" he protested. "It's true!"

"It makes logical sense, I admit," Rook added. "Not to mention that Glace, as a Necrofriggian, would find it ideal to their tastes. They prefer a cold environment, and a dark world far from your sun would suit them nicely."

The barren, icy dwarf planet hung before them, a sphere of frosty gray streaked with rusty orange and red. Funny… Ben had always imagined Pluto to simply be a dark and barren rock floating at the edge of the solar system, devoid of color or anything else of interest. He hadn't expected it to be colorful, or coated in ice, or surrounded by no less than five moons – even if four of those pretty much amounted to giant rocks that had drifted too close at some point. It was rather amazing that, for all the wonders the universe had to show him, there were still undiscovered wonders closer to home for him to explore.

He'd explore them later, though. Perhaps he'd come back here in Necrofriggian form with Aurora later, and plan a family vacation of sorts. For now, he just wanted to focus on rescuing her and bringing her captors to justice.

Rook touched the controls, bringing the Proto-Truk around to begin its descent into the thin atmosphere. "Pluto's atmosphere isn't breathable for humans – or for Revonnahganders or Chimera Sui Generis, for that matter. The temperatures are too extreme for us as well. We will have to wear life support suits while on the surface. Unfortunately, I am not sure if the suits will fit Ma or Rhomboid…"

"Vreedles don't need 'em," Octagon snorted. "We're what you might call adaptable – ain't sissies who need special air to breathe or are scared off by a lil' cold."

"Says th' boy who was whinin' that he was freezin' his unmentionables off in th' last blizzard," Ma muttered, curling her lip.

"Just 'cause we can tol'rate a lil' cold don't mean we hafta like it!" Octagon retorted.

"Life support suits, got it," Gwen told Rook, cutting off the Vreedles before they could begin an argument. "Ma, any idea where their headquarters are on this planet? Or will we have to search?"

"Ya think I'd be dumb enough not to know th' exact location?" She pointed to an oblong splotch along the planet's equator. "There. In that dark patch, on the western edge."

Rook nodded and adjusted their course. "In the Cthulhu Macula region. Got it."

Ben flinched. _Well, THAT'S not an ominous name at all._ Was Glace familiar with human literature and had picked the region as their headquarters on purpose? Or was it just sick coincidence?

 _Whatever… just hope to everything good there isn't really a Cthulhu there. Or shoggoths. Or whatever those fish-faced people were…_

The Proto-Truk touched down on a jut of rusty-colored ice that overlooked a seething swamp… or what looked like a swamp at first glance. If one looked a little longer, they'd see the truth – a lake of reddish-black tar that seemed to seethe and bubble as if boiling hot, despite Rook's claim that the planet was deathly cold. Fog curled and drifted over the surface of the shifting ooze like steam, and every so often a bubble would rise to the surface and burst in another puff of dry-ice steam.

 _Okay, so maybe there ARE shoggoths here,_ Ben thought with a shudder.

"Let's get those suits on," Gwen muttered with a shiver of her own. "I'm cold too." But from the way she looked out at the oozing muck, she was as unsettled by the planet's surface as Ben was.

Getting into the life-support suits was a struggle all its own – if quarters had been cramped before, they were even worse when over half the occupants were trying to wrestle into bulky spacesuits. By the time Ben was suited up he'd managed to step on just about everyone's feet, and had several elbows poked into his face and stomach. He never thought he'd be envious of a Vreedle before, but suddenly being able to wander around pretty much any planet without having to worry about whether you could survive its atmosphere or not sounded pretty good.

At last everyone was suited up and had double-checked their suits for tears and malfunctions, and Rook opened the doors to the Proto-Truk. Ben gasped at the rush of ultra-cold air that flooded in. Even with the suit's protection, it was worse than the coldest winter he'd ever experienced, worse even than that time he'd accidentally shut himself in the chest freezer as a kid. He couldn't imagine what being exposed to this would do to him – probably freeze him solid in a heartbeat.

Octagon shuddered. "Brrrr… let's find yer brat an' get outta here 'fore we turn into Vreedle-sicles."

"Aw, man up, ya wussy," Ma Vreedle snapped, thumping him up the back of the head. "You been through worse."

"Which way?" asked Rook, turning to regard her through the thick glass of his protective helmet.

Ma pointed ahead. "Two klicks south."

He nodded. "You may stay and guard the ship if you want. We will take it from here."

Ma narrowed her eyes. "Since when do Plumbers get to order me 'round?"

"This is not your mission…" began Rook.

"I said I'd help th' kid find his girl," Ma retorted. "An' I'm gonna do it. I may not make an honest credit, but I'm a mother, an' I got SOME standards. An' buyin' an' sellin' kids is way below 'em."

Despite himself, Ben felt his opinion of the Vreedle matriarch rise a few notches. Maybe his mom was right, and she wasn't so bad after all.

The unlikely party set off across the frozen wasteland, booted feet crunching on the nitrogen-laden ice that crusted the landscape. Ma led the way, raising her gun to sweep the area every so often, with Ben, Rook, and Alyxx immediately behind her. Gwen and Kevin trailed behind, and Octagon and Rhomboid brought up the rear, the former grumbling about the cold and the reek of the atmosphere the entire time while the latter simply kicked idly at chunks of loose ice or blobs of tar every so often.

"What can we expect when we get there?" asked Gwen at last. "I'd feel a lot better about this whole mission if we went in with some kind of plan."

Ma snorted. "Y' think I make house calls t' these lowlifes? Vreedles don't truck with slavers."

Gwen groaned. "Great. So it's the blind leading the blind."

"Chin up," Kevin replied. "We'll go in and wing it, like we always do. It hasn't failed us yet, right?"

"I've got a plan," Ben replied. "Go in, kick some well-deserving butt, and rescue Aurora. And Xenia, if she's there… and anyone else they've got. That's plan enough for me."

"That's not a plan at all!" Gwen retorted. "I swear, you two suck at reassuring me that we've got this under control."

Ma halted in her tracks, and Ben, who'd been busy trying to come up with a witty retort, ran right into her ample backside and fell to the icy ground. "Hey!"

"We're here," Ma announced. "Just over this ridge. Careful, if they got any sense they've got th' place guarded."

Rook and Alyxx helped Ben to his feet, and he made his way to the ridge and carefully peered over. Either the building had been here long enough for a healthy crust of ice to build up over its exterior or the slavers had elected to tunnel directly into the ice itself – the only visible sign of a permanent base was a set of heavy gunmetal doors set directly into the side of a glacial cliff. That didn't make the base easy to miss, however – a good dozen goons were patrolling the area just outside the doors, guns drawn and gazes sweeping the landscape. Most wore life-support suits of the same rusty-white shade of the ice around them, though Ben spotted at least three Necrofriggians and a Polar Manzardill among them. Said Polar Manzardill didn't hold a gun, but a thick chain in his claws… a thick chain that ended in a heavy collar that wrapped around the neck of a gigantic insectoid creature with wicked fangs and almost delicate-looking wings and antennae.

"Rats," he muttered, ducking back behind the ridge. "There's at least twelve of them, and they've got one of those Necrofriggian-hunting bugs with them."

"Psychloleopterrans," Rook corrected.

"Yeah, what he said," Ben replied. "One of those. Though why Glace'd want one around the base is beyond me."

"Some beings like to keep dangerous creatures as exotic pets," Alyxx pointed out. "Maybe Glace's got a bold streak we've never seen before. Or maybe they have enemies among their own kind they want to keep at bay."

"If he's been selling Necrofriggian kids, then I wouldn't doubt he's got enemies," Kevin noted. "So how do we get past 'em all?"

"I've got some aliens that might do the trick," Ben replied. "Rath can kick some butt. Or Four-Arms."

"Um… problem," Kevin pointed out. "Neither Rath nor Four-Arms can breathe on this planet. An' neither of 'em'll fit in that suit either."

"…oh." Ben hadn't thought of that. The intense cold and toxic air of the planet would kill many of his alien forms, and most of the more useful ones were the wrong shape and size to fit in the life-support suit. Arctiguana and Big Chill could survive out there, if the guards were any indication… but that left him out of luck once the Omnitrix timed out and he was caught outside in his fragile human form…

Wait… his Big Chill form. Azmuth had managed to fix the Omnitrix so that his Necrofriggian form wouldn't time out like the others. If he could assume that form, he could fight without having to worry about freezing to death or suffocating in the noxious air.

But that left the Psychlo-whatever to tangle with, the one predator most perfectly suited to hunting Necrofriggians. Well… he'd faced those critters before and come out okay. And at the moment he'd face a whole swarm of them if it meant saving Aurora and pounding Glace into the next century.

"All right, I'm going Big Chill – or Necrofriggian, I guess," Ben announced. "It's the only form I can count on at the moment. Ma, can you and Octogan and Rhomboid take on the big bug? Just keep it off my back until we can get inside."

Ma nodded and cocked her gun. "We got it."

"Make us do the dirty work," Octagon muttered, then yelped as Ma cuffed him upside the head again.

"Gwen, Kevin, Rook, think you can tackle the rest of the guards?" Ben asked. "Alyxx and I'll go in and find Glace and Aurora, and Xenia if she's still here."

"Are you sure about this?" Gwen asked. "Don't you want one of us as backup just in case?"

"We got this," Ben assured her. "Besides, we owe Glace a smackdown."

Kevin nodded with a bit of a smirk. "Give 'im hell for us."

Ben nodded in return, and he felt for the Omnitrix through the sleeve of his suit. Operating it by feel was tricky, but he was confident that he could manage it. Once he had it set for the proper alien, he raised his hand and brought it down with a slap.

 _It's hero time… hold on, Aurora._ Abru's _coming!_

* * *

Glace should have guessed that something like this would happen, they supposed, looking down at the torn singlet on the floor of their room. Aurora was a bright little icelet, there was no denying that, and she'd proven quite resourceful in utilizing her abilities to escape. They could almost admire that… if it didn't make her such a pain in the posterior to try to control and contain.

They stopped and picked up the shredded suit, then touched the comm unit attached to the side of their head. "We have an escaped prisoner. Karloff, Circadia, sweep the base. She couldn't have gone far. Bring her back unharmed."

 _Dammit, why we gotta play babysitter,_ the Transylian grumbled.

 _On it, Boss,_ the Nemuina chirped. _Mind if she's knocked out?_

"Do what you must to ensure she stays confined," they replied. "Just get her back at once."

Before they could sign off, another voice sounded over the radio – the panicked snarl of Gelid, the Polar Manzardill that led the patrols.

 _We're under attack! They've got Plumbers AND Vreedles! And a Necrofriggian too!_

It didn't take long for Glace to piece together what had happened, and they gave a sigh that sent ice crystals pluming in the air before them. So Ben Tennyson had found them, and brought reinforcements. Why the Vreedles were also present they had no idea – but they could puzzle that out later.

"Stop them at all costs," they snapped, then cut the connection and stalked off. Let Tennyson have the base and the last of the slaves – they were superfluous at this point. Aurora was all that mattered – and once they had her in their claws, they were quit of the Pluto base and would return home.

Soon, they would have their family. Soon…


	13. Escape and Rescue

The icy wastes of Pluto had never before been so lively. Blasts of plasma fire illuminated the rusty ice fields as Plumbers and Vreedles exchanged fire with the slavers, and heavy boots churned up the frozen landscape. The hiss and snap of blaster fire drowned out the sickly burble of the tar flats, and the screech of the Psycholeopterran sent loose ice and rock vibrating from its force. Where there had once been frozen calm was now bedlam.

 _That kind of tends to happen when Plumbers are on scene,_ Ben thought as he swooped over the battlefield, aiming for the base's doors. _Or maybe just when I'm around, I dunno._

The gigantic insect screeched again and beat its wings, yanking its chain free of its captor as it moved to intercept Ben. But a massive gray form smashed into it, slamming it back down on the ice. It snapped at Ma Vreedle with glittering mandibles, but she dodged and grabbed its fangs, wrestling it to the ground like an ornery steer.

Figuring that Ma had the predator well in hand, Ben quickly scanned the rest of the battlefield. Gwen had her hands raised, magenta-colored energy blasting from both palms, while Octagon and Rook hid behind a jut of rock and ducked out to fire at anyone who dared get too close. Kevin grappled with one of the Necrofriggian slavers nearby, while Rhomboid was trying to pry the Polar Manzardill's jaws out of his leg. Alyxx… dangit, where was she?

There! The young Plumber had been cornered against a slab of rock by two armored slavers, their guns trained on her. Even as he watched one reached for a pocket on his thigh and pulled out a device that looked suspiciously like a Taser. It didn't take a genius to figure that the slavers wanted her alive – perhaps Chimera Sui Generis fetched a good price on the black market? He didn't know, didn't care to know, and was determined to ensure he never found out.

The first soldier grunted and hit the ground as Ben slammed his feet into his back. The second soldier whipped around, squeezing off a spray of shots that passed harmlessly through Ben. Alyxx was quick to take advantage of the distraction, firing her own weapon to bring him down.

"Thanks," she said, flashing Ben a grateful smile.

"Gotta have you in one piece," Ben told her, touching down. "Your sister won't be happy if I saved her but left you to get sold in her place." He extended an arm to her like a suitor asking a lady to a dance. "Still want to storm the fortress with me?"

"Are you kidding? I want a piece of these slimeballs for myself."

"I take it that's a yes." He motioned for her to follow him, and together they charged the doors of the base.

Two guards flanked the base doors, and they leveled their guns at the oncoming Plumbers. Ben didn't hesitate – he spewed a stream of ice to freeze first one, then the other, leaving them trapped in crystalline prisons. Neither even had time to squeeze off a shot.

 _Thought this would be more of a challenge,_ he thought as he shifted through the doors and opened them to allow Alyxx through. Somehow he thought the slavers would have more of a guard, or at least be trickier to take down. Maybe they simply hadn't expected to be found on Pluto. Or maybe there was something nasty waiting for them deeper inside.

Well, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it, he figured. For now he was just going to focus on finding Aurora and Xenia while their luck held.

The corridors of the base were carved straight out of the ice, dimly lit but with the pale walls helping to reflect and amplify the limited illumination. Steel doors had been set into the ice at irregular intervals, but Ben bypassed them all as he led Alyxx further into the heart of the slavers' headquarters. If Glace had more brains than scruples, they wouldn't be keeping their prisoners close to the surface; they'd secure them deep in the bowels of their lair, where they couldn't escape so easily.

"Do you know where you're going?" asked Alyxx.

"It's not like I've got a map," Ben grumbled. Then he realized Alyxx had been genuinely asking, not being snarky, and sighed. "Sorry… just worried."

"Me too." She patted his wing-cloaked shoulder. "But we're so close! With any luck we'll soon have-"

A hideous screech filled the corridor, and they whirled to find they weren't alone. The Psycholeopterran had followed them, wedging its bulk through the open doors and scrambling madly after its favorite prey. One of its fangs had been snapped off close to the base, but the other was smeared with a grayish fluid that Ben tried not to think too hard about. And was it his imagination, or were there several blond hairs snagged in the creature's jaws?

 _Aw jeez… I thought Ma Vreedle could handle it! I sure hope she's got a clone backup somewhere…_

"Ben, look away!" Alyxx screamed.

Her warning came too late. For the insectoid predator's scream mellowed out into a penetrating hum that seemed to vibrate every fiber of his being. Its eyes swirled in a hypnotic pattern, and despite himself Ben fell into them, feeling his will drain away. It was so… pretty… soothing and peaceful…

A familiar voice chuckled just behind him. "I come here looking for a lost little icelet, and I get a couple of pests. Ah, I see you've met my pet, Tennyson. I'll let the two of you get acquainted while I just take your friend here…"

The smug tone of that sibilant voice sent a flash of irritation through Ben, but the persistent humming and the enthralling swirl of the predator's eyes calmed him instantly. The urgency gnawing at his insides faded away. There was something he had to do, but it could wait… he could just look a little longer…

* * *

Aurora didn't dare move or even breathe as heavy footsteps approached her hiding place. It was some comfort to her to know that hiding from the hulking Transylian wouldn't be too hard – his heavy boots announced his presence long before she saw him, and he didn't seem terribly bright to her. It was his partner that worried her more – she didn't walk but flew soundlessly from place to place, and she wouldn't even have to grab her to capture her.

At least neither of them could stop her from phasing now that she was out of the singlet, she figured. Though if the Nemuina managed to hit her with her sleeping dust before she could phase… no, she wasn't going to think about that.

"Let's just give it up," Karloff grumbled, kicking at the nearest wall hard enough to leave cracks. "The kid's long gone by now. Knew we shouldn't have left her alone."

"Do you really want to face the boss's wrath if we come back empty-handed?" Circadia retorted, her musical voice sharp with irritation. "We keep looking. She's just a child. She wouldn't go too far."

"Since when were you an expert on kids?" Karloff growled.

"I've handled my fair share," Circadia replied. "Who do you think brought back the Chimera girl anyhow? Certainly not YOU, you clod-head. Children take a delicate touch."

"Some of us ain't the delicate type, flitter-bug. If you're so smart, go find her!"

"Patience, Karloff. She's somewhere around here. She'll be too scared to go too far."

Aurora almost snorted in disbelief – a bad move, as she was huddled in an icy niche not ten feet from the two goons. She wasn't scared. Her _abru_ was one of the greatest heroes in the galaxy, why would she be scared? Maybe if she kept telling herself that, it would even be true…

Karloff stomped past her hiding place, Circadia fluttering behind. Aurora waited until they had rounded a corner and gone out of sight before wriggling free of the niche. That had been too close. She was going to have to be a lot more careful if she wanted to get out of here without being caught.

 _Which way?_ she wondered as she drifted off in the opposite direction the two goons had taken. She hadn't been awake when they'd brought her here, and she had no idea what the layout of this place was. Perhaps she should just pick a direction and fly straight – she could phase through walls until she was outside. But no, what if this place was built into the side of a mountain, or was deep underground? She could end up flying forever… or worse, unphase at the worst time and get stuck in solid rock.

The corridor ended in a set of heavy steel doors plastered with yellow warning signs. She disregarded said signs and phased right through. Maybe this was a way out… or if not, maybe it at least led to something important, like weapons or a power source. If she could find a way to mess it up a little, it might distract Glace and his henchmen and buy her _abru_ a little more time…

She gasped, hovering in midair as she looked around the dimly-lit chamber she found herself in. Not a way out, and not a power core or a weapons cache – this was a prison. Cells lined the walls, and smaller cages were stacked haphazardly in the center of the room as if awaiting shipment. A few cells and cages stood empty, but almost all of them contained at least one captive alien of some kind. Arachnichimps, Kinecelerans, Piscciss Volanns, Gimlinopithecuses, Merlinisapiens, Petrosapiens, Splixsons, Floraunas, Appoplexians, and creatures she had no name for stared out of the shadows of their prisons, some pacing restlessly or rattling the bars of their cages, others slumped in hopeless heaps.

Aurora quivered from head to foot, a surge of horror and anger filling her. If she needed any further proof that Glace was cruel and disgusting, this was it. She might share DNA with them, but she would NEVER accept them as _Abru._ Not after they had sold her to the carnival, and certainly not after seeing other aliens about to be subjected so a similar fate.

An Appoplexian left off trying to pry the chains off his wrists to glower at her. "LEMMIE TELL YA SOMETHIN', BUG-EYES! WHEN I GET OUTTA HERE I'M GONNA RIP THOSE WINGS OFFA YA AND USE 'EM AS TOILET PAPER!"

"Calm down, Cholarr, it's not the Plumber," retorted a Petrosapien from the next cell over.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR COMMENTARY, LAZULIS!"

"Keep it down, will you?" She turned her attention to Aurora. "Kid, I dunno who you are, but you might want to fly out of here fast! Glace's not above selling his own kind!"

Aurora touched down atop a cage containing a cluster of Splixsons. _"I know,"_ she chittered, hoping at least one of these aliens knew her language. _"He captured me too. But I escaped."_

"Good on you," Lazulis replied, her amber eyes flashing. "But you're going to end up re-caught if you don't scoot. Don't wanna see a kid end up as property."

She shook her head, then fired a thin stream of ice at the lock on Lazulis' cell. The crystalline alien frowned, then gave the door to her cell an experimental shake… and the frozen lock shattered.

" _I'm not leaving all of you,"_ Aurora insisted. _"If I'm getting out of here, so are all of you!"_

The crystal alien gaped at her… then laughed softly. "You're a brave little one." She stepped out of her cell and bent down to wrench open the Splixsons' cage. "Let Cholarr out and we'll all work together to jailbreak everyone. And work fast – one of Glace's goons could stop by any minute."

Aurora nodded and froze the lock on the tiger-like alien's cell, then iced over his shackles for good measure. Cholarr shattered his bonds with a mighty roar and lunged out of his cell, going from door to door and wrenching them clear off their hinges. No wonder he'd been chained as well as locked up… though Aurora wondered who would be stupid enough to try to buy an angry Appoplexian. Maybe a gladiator arena, or someone with more money than brains.

She shook her head and went to another cell, one that contained two different aliens – a Kineceleran and a Chimera Sui Generis, both young and clinging to each other in terror. Again rage toward Glace boiled in her gut, almost hot enough to melt her own ice. Anyone who would be so low as to sell kids into slavery had no business raising one of their own.

The alien kids looked up in amazement as Aurora froze and broke the lock to their cell, then opened the door. Then the Chimera girl stood, scooping the little Kineceleran boy up in her arms, and scurried out of her prison.

"That's all of 'em," Lazulis noted, wrenching open one last cage. "Now the question is how do we get off this rock? Not all of us can breathe the atmosphere, and I dunno if there's a ship big enough for all of us."

"YOU COULDA THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE YOU STARTED BREAKIN' STUFF, YOU BIG PILE-A PEBBLES!" Cholarr roared.

Aurora winced, both from the Appoplexian's bellow and because she hadn't been thinking that far ahead. This hero business of _Abru's_ was a lot more complicated than it looked.

"Shut it, you're scaring the kids," Lazulis snapped.

"If I may… I believe I overheard some of the guards talking about an attack on the base," an Arachnichimp put in, raising a hand. "It's possible that a rescue's already underway, which means we just need to sit tight and-"

"I trust THAT about as far as you could throw Cholarr, Simian," Lazulis told him. "You ain't exactly got a good track record for honesty."

Aurora's antennae twitched. _"An attack? Plumbers?"_

"Hard to say," Simian noted, tail twitching. "But one can hope…"

"Don't you dare raise the poor kid's hopes," Lazulis snapped. "Or else YOU get to be the one to explain things to her when it turns out to be a false alarm!"

But Aurora was already fluttering her wings in excitement at this news. If Plumbers were here to launch a rescue, that meant _Abru_ had to be with them! She'd see him again, and together they'd teach Glace a lesson they'd never forget.

" _Let's go,"_ she trilled, swooping toward the doors.

"Get back here, kid!" Lazulis ordered. "For all we know it's just a rival slaver ring trying to steal their goods!"

" _Or it could be Plumbers!"_ she retorted, turning to give the Petrosapien her best glare. _"We won't know unless we go see! I'm not just gonna sit around and wait for things to happen – I'm gonna do something!"_

Cholarr flung his head back and belted out a raucous laugh. "LEMMIE TELL YA SOMETHIN', MOTH-GIRL! YOU'RE MY KINDA KID! NOW LET'S GET OUT THERE AND KICK SOME BUTT!"

The aliens whooped and cheered, and several of them stormed the doors, forcing them open. Lazulis just pinched the spot between her eyes and sighed deeply.

" _You okay?"_ Aurora chirped.

"Yeah… just not sure this is a good idea." She bent down and scooped the Kineceleran and Chimeran children up in her arms. "You kids better stick with me. No matter who's fighting Glace's goons, it's not gonna be pretty out there."

" _Okay."_ But Aurora already felt far more excitement than fear as she followed the Petrosapien down the corridor. She was absolutely sure that _Abru_ had the entire situation well in hand, and was unleashing his righteous wrath on Glace for everything awful he'd done.

* * *

 _He was punching Vilgax in the face to the enthusiastic applause of an adoring crowd… he was enjoying a smoothie with Gwen and Rook and Kevin after a successful mission… he was flying over Bellwood with Aurora at his side, teaching her how to navigate a tricky air current…_

"Tennyson, snap out of it!"

"It's too late. The Psycholeopterran has him quite deep in its thrall by now. He won't even feel a thing when it injects its venom and drinks his liquefied insides."

 _Watching "My Little Pony" with his daughter… fishing with Grandpa Max in the Undertown's canals… electrocuting Malware in his Feedback form, a huge grin on his cyclopean face… pulling the old yawn-and-stretch trick to drape an arm around Julie's shoulders as they watched the new Sumo Slammers movie together…_

"Ben! Ben, please! Your daughter and my sister are counting on us!"

"All this screaming won't do you any good. Just submit quietly, and perhaps I can convince your sister's buyer to take two for the price of one."

"You monster… if you've put a scratch on Xenia…"

 _His mind shifted from one scene to another – scenes of basking in the glory of being the heroic wielder of the Omnitrix, scenes of adventures and good times shared with his friends, and most of all scenes of him and his family… especially the littlest member of his family…_

 _Aurora. There was something about Aurora. Every scene of her that drifted before his eyes warmed him, yet filled him with a strange urgency. That urgency faded every time another image floated to the surface of his mind's eye, only to reawaken every time he saw her fluttering happily through the air, or wrapped up in her favorite princess dress, or watching cartoons on a monitor in the Plumber base. Something was wrong… yet he couldn't quite figure out…_

"BEN! WAKE! UP!"

Something hard thudded into the back of his head, nearly knocking him to the floor. He shook his head, breaking eye contact with the Pscyho-whatever-it-was, feeling the dreamy haze dissipate like fog under direct sunlight. What… what just happened… he'd been about to go bust Aurora out when…

"Oh, sonofa-" He backpedaled furiously as the insectoid monster lunged, nearly impaling him on its remaining fang. The ivory spear instead struck Alyxx's gun, which lay on the floor where it had landed after bouncing off the back of Ben's skull, and sent it skidding.

"Pity," Glace hissed. "You can never just die peaceably, can you, Tennyson?"

Ben went airborne to evade another lunge, hovering over both the predator and the Plumber-turned-slaver. Glace had frozen Alyxx from shoulders to waist, pinning her arms to her sides, and they gripped her by the shoulders and were trying to steer her away. Alyxx writhed and stomped, making her capture as difficult for Glace as she possibly could.

"Let her go!" Ben snarled, and spit a stream of ice.

Glace looked almost bored as the shaft of ice passed directly through them. "Did you honestly think that would work? You really know nothing about our kind. And yet you call yourself fit to raise the icelet."

"More fit than you!" Ben retorted. "I'm not the one who sells kids into slavery!"

Glace hissed, wings flaring out and amber-green eyes flashing dangerously. "Such a harsh word. Slavery… more like indentured servitude. Many of those children are provided for so much better by their new owners than they would be in their own families."

Ben dove, aiming to slam his feet into Glace. The other Necrofriggian thrust Alyxx into Ben's path as a living shield, and for a split second Ben thought about pulling up… but instead he kicked the ice encasing her arms, shattering it.

"Run!" he ordered. "Go find Aurora and Xenia! I'll take care of the slimebag!"

Alyxx nodded and bolted down the corridor, stooping to pick up her gun along the way.

"She won't get far," Glace informed him. "I still have men in the base – they'll apprehend her, and have one more piece of merchandise to ship out."

Ben roared in anger and slashed at Glace's wings with clawed hands. Glace reeled back and kicked Ben in the stomach, sending him flying back toward the winged predator. Ben beat his wings, rising into the air just in time to avoid being skewered.

Glace took flight, and the two Necrofriggians circled in midair like boxers seeking an opening for a first strike. The Psycho-creature scuttled beneath them, hissing, waiting for one or the other to fall so it could enjoy an easy meal. The walls of the base thrummed with the blasts from outside, an eerie and menacing soundtrack to the tense standoff.

"I'm going to make you pay for all you've done," Ben vowed. "To Aurora, to Xenia, to Liijon, to all the aliens you've kidnapped and sold! Nobody hurts my daughter and gets away with it!"

Glace gave a rattling laugh that fogged the air with ice crystals. "Your daughter? No… she is mine."

"She's not yours!" Ben growled. "What, did you intend to brainwash her until she believed you were her _abru?_ "

"I intended to teach her the truth," Glace replied, eyes glittering. "That you may have birthed her, but it was my DNA that forged her. The Necrofriggian sample in your Omnitrix had to come from somewhere, didn't it?"

Ben's wings missed a beat, and he nearly fell into the clutches of the circling predator before catching himself. He had NOT expected this.

"I was struck with an illness years ago," Glace went on. "One that left me unable to reproduce. Many of our kind are solitary by nature, but I was one of the few with the genetic mutation to crave company… to crave a family. And to lose that ability before my first reproduction cycle was a terrible blow. So when Azmuth approached me, requesting a sample of my DNA for his Omnitrix, I gave it to him. For perhaps the wielder of the Omnitrix would serve as a surrogate, reproducing in my stead… and allowing any children who shared my mutation to find me."

Ben stared at Glace, dumbfounded… and almost paid for it dearly when the Necrofriggian lunged out at him. He beat his wings and surged higher, antennae nearly scraping the ceiling as claws whistled mere inches from him. Going incorporeal wouldn't help him here – two intangible beings cancelled each other out. This was going to be a purely physical fight, plain and simple.

"She should have been mine, you know," Glace snarled. "She should have come to ME, the one who shares her DNA. Not some human child playing with technology beyond his understanding as if it were a toy. Not a violent glory-hound who treats her like a human in an alien suit instead of as her own kind."

"She DID come to you!" Ben snapped. "Or you found her first… and you SOLD her! Why do you think she didn't want anything to do with you?"

"I didn't know she was mine!" They lashed out again, and Ben hissed as talons ripped gashes in the membrane of his right wing. He retaliated with a blow to the chest that sent Glace hurtling to the floor, but the slaver recovered and flew higher before his savage pet could grab him.

"She belongs with her own kind," Glace insisted. "With one who will raise her RIGHT, as one of her own kind. You treat her like a little human girl, dressing her up like a doll, leaving her in environments where she can overheat too easily, refusing to even speak her language around her. What kind of a parent does that make you, Tennyson?"

"Technically it's my mom that dresses her up," Ben corrected. "But as for the rest of all that – yeah, I screwed up. I left her in a hot car when I shouldn't have. But I'm new at this whole parenthood thing, and what new parent isn't going to make a mistake? And so what if she likes to wear clothes and speak English and watch Disney movies and pony cartoons? She's a Necrofriggian… but she's got human family too. And she might share your DNA… but she shares mine too. I've got just as much of a right to raise her as you – more right, seeing as I laid her egg. And I'd say you renounced YOUR right when you sold her to a carnival for a quick buck."

Glace lunged, screaming in rage. Ben didn't dodge this time but met the charge head-on, claws aimed at his opponent's wings. Hisses and screeches filled the air as they clawed and struck at one another, sending shreds of wing membrane and Glace's Plumber uniform showering down like snow on the Psycholeopterran below. Both sides of Aurora's heritage battled for dominance – human and Necrofriggian, warmth and ice.

It was a close contest – Ben had years of combat experience, but Glace had long trained Plumber cadets in hand-to-hand combat themself. But the struggle finally ended with Ben slamming Glace into a wall, pinning them in place with one hand on their thin wrists and the other around their throat. His wings were ragged and bleeding, scratches marred his torso, and his head still throbbed from Alyxx's earlier blow, but a surge of triumph filled Ben anyhow.

"It's over, Glace," he rasped. "You're under arrest… and Aurora will never be yours."

Glace's eyes glowed with hatred. "If she can't be mine… she can't be yours either." And they ripped one arm free from Ben's grip and slammed their fist into Ben's chest. He doubled over, the wind knocked from his lungs, only for another blow to knock him out of the air and send him falling to the waiting monster below.

* * *

Upon escaping the chamber where they'd been held prisoner, most of the captive aliens scattered through the corridors of the base, despite Lazulis' repeated shouts that they were better off sticking together. Even Simian had scurried off on his own, evidently preferring to save his own furry hide. Lazulis, Cholarr, and the Chimera and Kineceleran children seemed intent on staying as a group, at least, and Aurora couldn't blame them. She knew she felt safer with them on her side, and perhaps having more than one set of eyes would help her find _Abru_ faster.

" _Which way is out?"_ she asked. _"I was asleep when they brought me here."_

"Most of us were," Lazulis replied. "That pesky little fairy knows her business. I hope she gets squashed before we leave-"

As if those words were prophetic, a high-pitched screech echoed down a side corridor. Said screech was followed by Karloff's roars of rage and the excited chatter of an entire army of Splixons as they took down Glace's thugs. At least someone here was getting a good dose of karma, she figured.

Aurora was so intent on reaching her _abru_ that she didn't see the intruder rounding the corner until she had bulled right into them. She bounced off the armored chest with a squeak, shaking her head in a daze. Maybe she should stay intangible until they got out of here…

"LEMMIE TELL YA SOMETHIN', SQUID-FACE!" Cholarr bellowed. "YOU THINK YOU GUYS CAN JUST LOCK US UP AN' SELL US LIKE HOTCAKES? JUST TRY IT NOW! I'LL TIE YOUR TENTACLES TO YOUR-"

"At ease!" the Chimera Sui Generis urged, raising her arms. "I'm a Plumber! I can't pull out my badge and show you, it's under the life-support suit, but believe me!"

Aurora gave another squeak, this one of sheer joy. A Plumber! And she recognized this one from Plumber Base! If Alyxx was here, _Abru_ couldn't be too far behind…

"How do we know we can trust you?" Lazulis retorted, stony jaw clenching. "This could be a trick to round us all back up-"

"Alyxx!" The Chimera girl Aurora had freed from her cage rushed forward, throwing her arms around the Plumber's middle. "Alyxx, you came!"

"Xenia!" Alyxx bent over as much as her cumbersome suit would allow and swept the girl up in her arms. "Xenia, you're okay… we were so worried…"

Lazulis' jaw relaxed, and she gave a brisk nod. "All right… so she's on our side. Does this mean we've got Plumbers here?"

Alyxx nodded, struggling to contain her emotions enough to speak. "A small Plumber division is here, with the Omnitrix wielder among them." Her gaze moved to Aurora. "Your _abru's_ been very worried about you."

"Here?" Aurora chirped, eyes whirling with excitement.

Alyxx nodded. "He's here. C'mon, let's get you to him."

Aurora nodded and darted after Alyxx and Xenia as they ran down the hallway. Cholarr lumbered close behind, snarling and grumbling to himself, and Lazulis shifted the Kineceleran boy in her arms before bringing up the rear.

They arrived on the scene of a brutal brawl – there was no other word for it. _Abru_ and Glace were a snarl of limbs and claws in the air, slashing and punching at one another, bruises and wounds streaking their bodies. Glace's Plumber uniform was in shreds, and both combatants' wings were ragged and bleeding. Below, a hulking gray beast watched the battle with a hungry eye, waiting for one or the other to drop from exhaustion or be struck down by his opponent so it could have a meal.

Something deep in Aurora's brain crawled with terror at the sight of the creature. She recognized it from one of her lessons with Glace… but she had assumed she'd never see one, as they were nearly extinct and she had no intention of going to their native planet. A Psycholeopterran, an insectoid monster that was the Necrofriggian's most dangerous predator… a beast that could hypnotize its prey and was immune to a Necrofriggian's ice powers and intangibility. Her worst nightmares made flesh and ichor.

A pained grunt cut into her thoughts, and she looked up in time to see Glace knock _Abru_ out of the air with a terrible blow. Her _abru_ fell toward the predator, spreading his wings in a futile attempt to stay his fall as it lunged up to impale him on its fangs.

" _ABRU!"_ She didn't stop to think – she streaked toward him, hissing her rage and fear, oblivious to Luzalis' cries. Nothing mattered now… nothing except saving her _abru._

Alyxx didn't waste breath on screaming – she pushed Xenia behind her and fired on the Psycholeopterran. It screamed, smoke pluming from one eye, and whirled toward the Plumber… then hissed as _Abru_ landed on top of its head. He lay there a moment, stunned, then quickly rolled off the creature's back and scurried away before it could regain its wits and attack him.

Aurora didn't slow down, but merely changed course… and Glace doubled over as she slammed into their abdomen. She screeched and let loose a flurry of blows with her little fists, taking care to aim at anywhere that looked bruised or cut up already.

" _That! Is! For!_ Abru!" she shrieked.

Clawed hands gripped her, and she squirmed as Glace raised her to eye level. The ex-Plumber's mandibles were clenched in deep rage, and their amber eyes blazed like live coals.

" _Violent and undisciplined – just like Tennyson,"_ they hissed. _"He has corrupted you… we can only hope it isn't beyond redemption."_

"Since when was her being like her _abru_ being corrupted?"

Glace glanced up – and reeled back as _Abru's_ fist connected with their jaw. Their grip on Aurora relaxed, and she hovered as they dropped to the floor like a sack of rubbish.

Another set of claws grabbed her, though these were gentle as they gently turned her around. _Abru_ looked down on her with brilliant green eyes that gleamed with emotion – worry, relief, joy, and anger all rolled into one.

"Did they hurt you?" he demanded. "Are you all right?"

"I'm… I'm okay," she assured him, slipping into English for his benefit. " _Abru…_ you came…"

"Of course I did." He hugged her to his chest. "You're my daughter. I'd cross the universe to save you. Oh sweetie… I was so scared…"

A bellow from Glace's pet predator interrupted their reunion, and Aurora looked down, half-expecting the monster to have eaten her captor in a dose of rich karma. But the creature was far too occupied to be eating anyone at the moment – it struggled to throw off the combined bulk of Cholarr, Lazulis, and Ma Vreedle even as it tried to evade shots from Alyxx's blaster. Glace lay unconscious on the ground, but both Xenia and the Kineceleran stood on either side of them, kicking them enthusiastically while they were down.

"Ma Vreedle?" _Abru_ gaped. "I thought you were…"

"Takes more'n a giant bug to take me down!" she hollered, laughing as she jammed a fist into the Psycholeopterran's good eye. "You get your kiddo outside. We'll clean up in here."

 _Abru_ nodded and squeezed Aurora tightly. "Come on, little one. Let's go home."

Aurora nodded. She was with _Abru_ now, her TRUE family, and as far as she was concerned all was right with her world.


	14. Epilogue

By the time a backup ship from Plumber headquarters arrived, Ben had managed to scrounge up a pair of energy cuffs that would keep Glace under control. Ma Vreedle had Glace's pet predator well in hand, so the Plumbers focused on hunting down and arresting the remaining slavers and rounding up the alien captives for questioning and any needed medical treatment. Doctor Lake was among them, to Ben's intense shock, and to her credit she didn't seem to hold a grudge against her fellow Plumbers for their accusations but only focused on treating the injured.

To Ben's chagrin, her lawyer was also present… and he and his bodyguards had delved right into the thick of things, wrangling any slavers who refused to surrender to the Plumbers and evacuating the remaining captives from the base. Slizzick himself handled the Polar Manzardill, and with surprising strength he yanked the toothy alien off of Rhomboid's leg and wrestled it into submission.

"It pays to know the basics of physical combat in my line of work," Slizzick explained as he let Rook and Alyxx take charge of his captive. "Attorneys aren't well-liked on any world, and we try to be prepared for that."

Aurora stared in fascination at the waves of rainbow-colored energy glittering atop Slizzick's head. "Pretty," she cooed, reaching out to touch.

"Sweetie, no," Ben ordered, pulling her hands down. "We don't touch people without asking. Even if they are lawyers."

"Awwwww," she pouted.

Slizzick chuckled. "I admit we got off on the wrong foot, Tennyson… but I do have to say that you created an adorable daughter. I do hope that she received your better traits."

Ben could think of a number of things to say in response to that, but none of them were fit for repeating in front of a child. He looked away to collect his thoughts… and winced as his gaze fell on Doctor Lake, who was helping to fit a life-support mask onto Xenia and the Kineceleran boy before they were escorted out of the base. After learning the truth about Glace, he felt like an utter heel for his treatment of the Plumber medic – they'd all assumed her to be the mastermind of this operation at the first sign of trouble, despite everything she'd done for the Plumbers in general… and Aurora in particular. He owed her a huge apology, and had no idea how to approach her about it.

"For the record, the Plumbers are dropping all charges against her," Slizzick told him. "She has refused my legal advice and chooses not to file any suit in retaliation, but will continue to work for your organization. A shame… but then, most in the medical field aren't terribly vindictive, I find."

Ben frowned. "Probably means you're out a big fee, then."

Slizzick shrugged. "Many of my species pursue law not as a career, but simply out of the sheer enjoyment of a case won. A paycheck is a perk, of course… but the enjoyment of a thrilling court battle, whether won or lost, is a reward in and of itself." He sighed and picked up his briefcase. "I'm disappointed that this one never made it to court, but it was unique nonetheless."

"Does this mean you're leaving the Plumbers alone now?" asked Ben.

Slizzick chuckled. "Hardly. Doctor Lake may no longer be my client, but I've already taken on another who should prove to be most interesting."

Ben groaned. "Don't tell me it's Glace."

"I wouldn't defend that insect in court if he were the last possible client in the universe," Slizzick replied, voice cold. "Even my kind have standards. No… my next case involves an individual by the name of Vilgax. It should be interesting, given his lengthy rap sheet, but I enjoy a challenge."

Ben groaned again, pinching the space between his compound eyes. "We're never gonna be rid of you, are we?"

Slizzick just winked and strolled away.

Aurora chirped and leaned against Ben's leg. "Going home, _Abru?"_

"Yeah, sweetie, we're going home," he assured her, patting the top of her head. "But there's something _Abru's_ gotta do first." And he took her hand and made his way toward Doctor Lake.

The doctor didn't look up until she had finished fitting Xenia's life-support suit… but when her gaze met Ben's it was surprisingly worried. "You're hurt… sit down and let me bandage your wings before we go. You shouldn't shift back to human form in that condition."

"I'll be fine," Ben lied – to be honest his torn wings ached something fierce, but he didn't want to admit it at the moment. "I'm… I'm just here to say I'm sorry. For jumping to conclusions. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge – heck, we all should have…"

His voice trailed off as she raised her hand to silence him. "I can't pretend I'm not upset that everyone was so quick to label me a criminal based on such flimsy evidence. But I understand that everyone was so desperate to catch the scumbag responsible for all this that some stupid decisions were made. I know if it had been my kids in danger, I would have been just as hysterical as you."

"Still, it doesn't excuse…"

"It doesn't… but I'm still a Plumber and a doctor, and I'm not going to neglect my duties just because mistakes were made. I accept your apology, Ben." She smiled a little. "But let me tend your injuries, at least. Your grandfather would never let me hear the end of it if you caught an infection or lost use of your limbs because you were too stubborn to accept treatment."

Ben sighed and sat down, wincing as Lake lifted a tattered wing and began to assess the damages. "Is this going to be your payback for me threatening to beat the tar out of you for what Glace did to Aurora?"

"Now there's a thought," she chuckled. "But no… I'm not about to take out anything on a patient. Just hold still, all right? I'm going to have to stitch some of these so they don't rip further."

Part of Ben insisted that the stitches really hadn't been necessary, and that Lake had insisted on it simply so she could have an excuse to stab him several dozen times with a sharp needle. But he put on a brave face anyhow, mostly so Aurora wouldn't fuss too much over _Abru_ being uncomfortable. And really, with his daughter safe, he could handle being jabbed in the wings repeatedly. At least it was him and not her needing her wings stitched.

* * *

Glace didn't even look up at the visitor standing outside their cell. "Come to gloat, Tennyson?"

"No," Ben replied. "Well, maybe a little. Because what's the fun in defeating bad guys if you can't gloat a little over it?"

Glace hissed softly. "Arrogant child to the end. The Rooters were right – you aren't worthy of the Omnitrix."

Aurora had been hiding behind Ben's leg, but she poked her head out and hissed right back at her former teacher. _"Don't talk about_ Abru _that way!"_

" _It's true, little icelet,"_ Glace snapped, switching to the chittering Necrofriggian language. _"One day you'll realize just what sort of creature your precious_ abru _is, and you'll wish you chose your family a little more carefully."_

"I dunno, I think she's capable of making her own choices just fine," Ben retorted.

Glace's antennae quivered in shock. "How did… you know…"

"I've been studying in my spare time over the past few weeks," Ben replied. "It's not too hard to pick up once you get the hang of it. Plus Aurora's been learning English all this time, so why shouldn't I learn her language too?"

It had been almost two months since the battle against Glace's slavers on Pluto. Things back at the base had gone mostly back to normal – Doctor Lake had settled back into her office and kept treating injured trainees, Alyxx had returned to her duties after a brief period of leave to take her sister home, and a new instructor for Glace's old combat classes had been found. The aliens they had recovered from the Pluto base had returned to their homes, and Plumber missions were being organized and sent out to hunt down and rescue any of the slaves they hadn't managed to rescue in time.

Even Glace's savage pet had gotten something of a happy ending – it was currently en route to a zoo on Galvan Prime, where it would become part of a conservation effort to save its kind from extinction. Ben didn't particularly relish the thought of the overgrown bug living to breed more Necrofriggian-eating babies, but seeing as the Necrofriggians themselves actually supported keeping them from dying out, who was he to judge?

As for Glace… they were scheduled to be shipped off to the Null Void soon. Despite his disgust toward Aurora's former mentor, Ben couldn't help but feel a shred of sympathy for him. The Null Void was full of prisoners, many captured and sentenced by the Plumbers, and he doubted it'd be a pleasant place for an ex-Plumber to find themselves. Still, Glace had brought it on themselves, and at least there they'd no longer be a threat to anyone.

"So you've won," Glace muttered, looking down at the energy cuffs that bound their wrists and ankles and prevented them from phasing. "You defeated me and now get to raise your daughter as a human. Congratulations. I hope you feel proud of yourself for denying her heritage, and forcing her into a world where she will never fit in."

Ben leaned against the thick transparent plastic that separated them. "You still think I'm going to ruin her just because I'm a human, don't you?"

Glace snarled. "She is Necrofriggian. She belongs with her kind. You've already corrupted her enough."

"She's part human too," Ben countered. "And I'm not going to deny her heritage. I spend a lot of time around her in my Necrofriggian form, and Azmuth's going to help me teach her more about her kind's history and culture. But if she's happy with life among humans, and wants to wear clothes or watch Disney movies or go to a human school, I'm not going to deny her that."

Glace's eyes glittered with hatred. "She will grow up to resent you. I promise you that. At least with me, she would not be confused as to her heritage. And she is my child as much as yours – you cannot deny THAT, Ben Tennyson."

Ben shook his head. "You know, if you'd just come up to me and told me right out you were Aurora's DNA donor, I might have let you help raise her. She still would have been mine, but we could have co-parented or something. But you kidnapped her and held her prisoner… and she told me you were physically rough with her while she was at your base. If I'm a bad parent, then what does that make you?"

Glace rasped angrily. "So you bring her before me to rub it in that you're the better parent, eh? Arrogant son of a…" Their voice trailed off into a few chittered words of Necrofriggian – words Ben didn't understand yet but was pretty sure meant something obscene.

"I brought her here because she's been terrified over the past few weeks that you were going to escape and come after her again," Ben replied. "I brought her here to show her that you're contained… and that after tomorrow, you'll never be able to hurt her again. She's safe from you."

Aurora hugged tightly against Ben's leg. _"Can we go home now? Wanna see_ Gran'mah _and_ Gran'pah _again."_

Ben smiled and stroked the top of her head gently. "Yes, Aurora… we're going home now."

Glace slumped in defeat, but apparently couldn't resist one last parting shot. "Criminals have escaped the Null Void before, Tennyson. I will come back… and I will make you regret that you took my child from me. I will have your blood for this."

Ben rolled his eyes. "I've heard threats like that so many times it's not even scary anymore, Glace. But if you do come back… I'll be ready." And he squeezed Aurora's hand lightly and led her away.

A small crowd awaited him as he left the brig, and Rook tilted his head curiously. "How did it go?"

"Better than I expected," Ben replied. "Looks like I made another enemy, though."

Gwen folded her arms, giving him an exasperated look. "Only you could be so… blase… about making so many enemies, Ben."

"Isn't there a saying that if you don't make any enemies, you're not really living?" asked Kevin with a smirk.

"Of course you'd think that," Gwen muttered.

"The important thing is that we know Aurora's safe now," Max replied. "Aurora and other aliens on Earth and throughout the galaxy. At least from this particular threat."

"There will always be others," Rook acknowledged. "But that is why the Plumbers exist - to counter those threats."

Aurora chirped and pumped a little fist into the air. "Kick butt! Me an' Plumbers an' _Abru!"_

"Not you for a long time," Max chided. "And not your _abru,_ not for awhile. He's still on light duty until you're a little older."

Ben made a little face at that. "I guess I can live with that. Still… maybe Azmuth needs to make Aurora her own little Omnitrix, so she can join me on my adventures."

Aurora nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Wanna be a hero too!"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "She's definitely yours, Ben."

Ben just beamed proudly and patted the little hatchling's head. He and Aurora fighting evil side by side someday… he liked the sound of that. Very much.

* * *

"You know, every parent says it about their kids," Mom noted as Ben tucked a thin blanket around the sleeping hatchling. "But it's true here too – she looks like a little angel when she's asleep."

"A little blue moth angel?" Ben whispered, smirking.

"Hey, I think angels can come in all shapes and sizes," Mom replied with a smile. "Even if they're moths or butterflies." She shivered and pulled her parka more closely around her. "But let's not stand here and watch her sleep too long. We'll freeze to death."

Ben laughed, but couldn't resist giving Aurora one last pat on the head before turning to leave her refrigerated bedroom. There were a few disadvantages to having a kid who needed to sleep someplace cold… but it was still worth it in his mind.

Mom ducked out of the bedroom, but he paused at the doorway to linger, looking around Aurora's room. Despite being frigid, it wasn't too different from any little-girl's bedroom – plush toys crowded the canopy bed, picture books crammed the small bookshelf, Disney movie posters plastered the walls, and an assortment of My Little Pony toys and (to Ben's secret delight) Sumo Slammers figures littered the floor. Dresses and shirts in a variety of colors hung in the closet, and coloring pages lay scattered on the small desk. If one ignored the temperature, they could look in here and assume this was just an ordinary human girl's room.

Ben smiled to himself. Perhaps Glace meant well in wanting to ensure Aurora didn't forget her Necrofriggian heritage. But if human toys and shows and clothes made her happy, who was he to stop her from enjoying them? Besides, she deserved to know about her human heritage as well. She was a child of two worlds, and it wasn't right to deny her either one of them.

"Ben, shut the door!" Dad called out. "You don't need to freeze out the whole house."

"Sorry." He let the door swing closed. "Just enjoying the moment, I guess. Tomorrow's a big day, after all."

"She's just starting school, not leaving forever," Dad pointed out. "You'll see her again."

"I'm still not sure if her starting at a human school is the right thing," Mom fretted. "Human kids are cruel enough to other humans – how are they going to treat an alien?"

"Mom, she can pass through solid objects, breathe ice, and fly," Ben pointed out. "She can handle herself. But if things get too messy, I'll talk to Grandpa. The Plumbers have ways to disguise her so she looks human." Though he wanted to avoid giving her an ID mask unless they had no choice – the last thing he wanted to do was make her feel ashamed of being Necrofriggian.

"I just worry is all," Mom replied. "She's our granddaughter, and we don't want anything bad happening to her." She gave Ben a little smile. "I'm proud of you, sweetheart. I know it was rough, getting used to her being here and adjusting our lives around her, but she's been a joy to have around."

"Aw, Mom…" Ben rubbed the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Still kind of rough juggling school and parenthood, and I hate being semi-retired from the hero business… but it really has been worth it."

"I'm proud of you," Mom repeated. "Having her around has matured you. Not that you weren't responsible before…"

"Mom, I was totally irresponsible," Ben retorted, laughing. "This is me we're talking about."

"At least he owns up to it, honey," Dad pointed out.

Mom lightly punched his shoulder. "Be nice to him, dear… what's that noise?"

Ben froze and listened closely, frowning. Something was scratching at the front door, like a cat begging to be let in out of the rain. But it wasn't raining, they didn't own a cat… and was that fluttering he heard too? And some kind of chirping…

 _Oh no… it can't be…_ He reached the door in two strides and flung it open.

It was exactly what he thought it would be – a cluster of winged blue forms, like chubby humanoid moths. Two of them stood on the doorstep like Girl Scouts selling cookies, their wings drooped over their shoulders in awkward imitation of the cowl-like drape of an adult's wings. Four or five others hovered in the air, their bright green eyes glittering in the moonlight. And they all fixed Ben with expressions that would have looked utterly alien to an ordinary human… but that Ben had come to recognize as looks of utter adoration.

" _Abru!"_ one of the hatchlings on the doorstep chirped. _"Hello, Abru!"_

" _Abru!"_ The rest of the Necrofriggians took up the call, squeaking and chittering excitedly at their find.

Ben turned to look at his dumbfounded parents, then back at what was apparently the rest of his brood. Then he let out a deep sigh… and opened the door wider.

"Come on in," he told them. "Don't wake your sister. I'm calling Grandpa Max for help on this one…"

 **Author's Note**

I don't consider myself a hardcore fan of _Ben 10,_ but I watched the original four shows (still haven't seen the reboot) and enjoyed them very much – especially the imaginative alien races, and the unique designs to said alien races. And of course, my favorite episode of all time would have to be "Save the Last Dance," where Ben is trapped in his Big Chill/Necrofriggian form and ends up laying eggs and having babies. And like many fans, I was sorely disappointed when said babies never reappeared and the episode was only reference for laughs a couple times in later episodes.

I don't exactly read _Ben 10_ fanfic, so I have no idea if "Ben's Necrofriggian babies come back to haunt him" is a common fanfic theme or not. If it is, I at least hope my take on it was somewhat unique. And baby Necrofriggians just need more love, dangit.

I'm aware there are some continuity errors in this fic, which I ascribe to not having seen the show for a few years and not remembering certain elements (such as Pluto apparently being destroyed by the Incursions at some point). My lame defense is that Alien X probably fixed it – and if the show can use Alien X as a Deus Ex Machina and/or continuity fixer from time to time, then fanfic writers can too.

Slizzick is not a character from the show – he is an original character of mine. I simply wanted an excuse to throw him into a fic at some point.

This will most likely be my first, last, and only foray into _Ben 10_ fanfic… though I say "most likely" because I've said this very thing before and been very, very wrong. I only intended to write a single Transformers fic and having that be the end of it, and ten years and umpteen TF fics later, look where I'm at…

Huge thanks to BassLineRaver for encouraging and beta-reading this fic. And for introducing me to _Ben 10_ in the first place.

Thank you for reading!


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